Understanding Emotional Intelligence 

Children can sometimes have a hard time dealing with big feelings. If they are taught how to verbalize their emotions, to understand why they are feeling that way, and learn to use calming techniques, they can then learn to react in healthier ways in new situations. This is called emotional intelligence.

 

Kids need to know that their emotions are never wrong or bad, but that they can learn to express them in appropriate ways. According to the American Psychological Association, children who have a higher emotional intelligence are more resilient, have improved social interactions, and they perform better in school overall. If children do not learn to manage their emotions in a healthy way, they will resort to unhealthy coping strategies as adults. This can lead to drug and alcohol use and/or addictions, self-harm, overeating, etc., leading to a lifetime of struggles. 

 

Positopia World books help parents and counselors work with kids productively, giving them valuable tools to help regulate emotions without it feeling overbearing or adding undue stress. By packaging these regulatory systems into entertaining stories, kids can benefit while enjoying new adventures and characters they can closely relate to.

Examples of Emotions 

There are a number of feelings that can be found in each category - color coded throughout the Positopia books:

When a child is in the red state and is dysregulated, they have activated the “fight, flight, or freeze” response of the autonomous nervous system (ANS). When a child is in this state, listening skills and memory are limited, and they have little ability to calm themselves down. The techniques found in this book are just a few of the ways that parents can help kids learn to transition themselves out of their fight, flight, or freeze reactions.

 

Continuing calming techniques during the yellow transition state will help get the child back to the green state.

 

In back in the green state the child is more open and capable of grasping the lessons that can be learned in the moment, and the child will eventually learn to self-regulate and/or lower the incidences of dysregulation in the first place.

Praise from Jack Canfield, NYT Bestselling Author

"One of the major challenges in working with children today is their inability to self-regulate. Through the use of a child’s imagination and their propensity for fun and play, this book teaches kids how to more easily verbalize their feelings and to use simple yet effective self-regulating techniques.  When kids are heard and get their needs met, they are less likely to act out, and they gain self-esteem, self-confidence, and empathy for others.  The adorable illustrations and lovable characters in the book bring the story to life, while making sure that the important lessons about emotional intelligence leave a lasting impression on the readers. I highly recommend that every parent, grandparent, therapist, counselor, and elementary school teacher get a copy of this book and read it to the kids you care about."

 

—Jack Canfield, Coauthor of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series