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Empathy and Understanding: Using Toys to Teach Emotional Intelligence

Have you met people in your life who are the first ones to jump into solving a problem in every situation? Have you noticed how everyone thinks so highly of them? Do you aspire your kids to be like them? You may need to keep your little ones engaged in emotional intelligence games. Not sure of what emotional intelligence is? According to Britannica, Emotional intelligence is a set of psychological faculties that enable individuals to perceive, understand, express, and control their emotions and to discern and respond appropriately to the feelings of others. (1)

EQ is believed to benefit the mental health, social relationships, and work performance of individuals with a strong grip on this quality. Even a study published on PSI CHI (The International Honor Society in Psychology) sheds light on the fact that EQ proves to be more powerful than IQ (intelligence quotient). (2) A person who deals with negative situations with positivity, doesn’t shy away from accepting mistakes, is an empath, and loves to help people also receives preference from employers over others.

So it’s safe to say that as parents, we all aspire to raise emotionally intelligent children who can navigate life's ups and downs with grace and resilience. While we’ve already seen how critical EQ is for a person’s success in life, it’s recommended to help kids grow this quality from a young age. But what exactly is emotional intelligence in kids, and why is it so crucial? Let's explore more on this:

What is Emotional Intelligence in Kids?

Have you seen kids around you who fail to control their outbursts or don’t know how to shift their emotions according to the environment? All of them lack emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, often referred to as EQ, encompasses a child's ability to recognize, understand, and manage their own emotions, as well as empathise with the feelings of others. It involves skills like self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and effective communication. It's the foundation upon which healthy social relationships are built. While the concept of EQ is nothing new, it was made popular by the author, psychologist Daniel Goleman in his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

Importance of Emotional Development during Childhood

Kids without regulated EQ often struggle with tantrums, frustration, anger, inability to ask for help, inability to extend themselves for help, and discernment. They fail to read the room and act accordingly. However, in a social setting, only an emotionally intelligent person thrives. So as the early years of a kid’s life is a critical window for social and emotional development during childhood, it’s also a time to introduce EQ games to your little tots. Children who possess strong emotional intelligence tend to perform better in their academic lives, build healthier relationships, and experience greater happiness throughout their lives. So let’s equip our children with invaluable tools to thrive in both personal and professional realms through emotional development toys.

Games and Toys for Social and Emotional Development during Childhood

There are plenty of kids’ games that support emotional development during childhood and help grow empathy in kids. The best ones of them are:

1. Pretend and Play Games

While role-playing games have always been popular among kids, the real reason behind this is their amazing ability to help children explore and express their emotions without the fear of judgement. No matter what a kid is pretending to be, they go deep into the character, build real-life-like scenarios, communicate, collaborate, learn to share, and hone their imaginative minds. Emotional intelligence games like Magnetopia - Design Your Own Home allow kids to understand diverse perspectives, and practice empathy.

2. Board Games for Social Skills

Board games are all about winning and losing. While a bunch of kids play together, EQ games like cardboard games, they experience emotions like sadness or frustration of losing to their peers, happiness and excitement of winning, and a whole lot more entertainment!

Games like Guess in 10: Legendary Landmarks | Trivia Card Game and Connectors Mission Space | Domino & Tile Game are powerful tools for teaching cooperation, being happy in others’ happiness, regulating emotions while losing or coping with disappointment. These emotional intelligence games help kids regulate their emotions, be empathetic to their peers who have lost the game, read their desires, and decide moves based on their peers’ moves. The games become a playful competition instead of a medium for ego boost.

3. Outdoor Play for Emotional Well-being

Kids are always encouraged to play outside, in the lap of nature. The great outdoors connects children with nature and keeps them physically and emotionally fit. As most outdoor plays like Rapid Rumble Outdoor require a group of kids to play together, the games become a hub of social interactions. The kids help each other solve problems, work together to help win their team, interact with each other to solve problems, feel confident in solutions, and celebrate the joy of playing together or winning together, while sharing the load of losing the game together instead of blaming one another. All these qualities shape the kids' future success.

4. Artistic Games and Toys That Encourage Empathy

Art is a universal language that connects kids worldwide. Creative activities like drawing, painting, sticker art, foam art, and storytelling allow children to express themselves in a safe and non-verbal way. Their visual vocabulary enriches as they spend more time playing with Dot it! - No mess sticker art or Fun with Foam - No Mess Sticker Art. Kids’ arts and crafts become a way of being themselves and letting their creativity flow. They visually represent all their thoughts and feelings through art without uttering a word. Art-based emotional development toys become tangible tools for exploring and discussing kids’ inner thoughts playfully. These protect the little minds from stuffing thoughts into themselves and conveying them to people around them.

While there’s a tendency among parents, teachers, peers, and society to focus more on academic achievement over emotional well-being, understanding the profound impact of emotional intelligence on a child's overall development is non-negotiable. Emotional development during childhood begins with influencing kids to play with EQ games as found on Skillmatics. We have a massive collection of emotional intelligence games and toys that promote social and emotional learning among kids as little as 1+ years old. Our emotional development toys empower them to navigate the complexities of human emotions with confidence and compassion.

So, let's nurture the emotional intelligence of our little ones with the games collection of Skillmatics today!

FAQs on Games for Emotional Development during Childhood

What is the best toy for a child’s emotional development?

The best toys for emotional development during childhood are those that encourage pretend play, facilitate social interaction, help kids go through various emotions, and let them learn how to handle them for emotional awareness. Skillmatics has a lot of such EQ games in its collection that help grow empathy in kids.

How to choose educational toys for Emotional Development during Childhood?

Parents must always go for educational toys for social and emotional development during childhood that promise to help kids hone their communication skills, collaborative power, and problem-solving skills, help them go through a rollercoaster ride of emotions to control them and encourage cooperation.

What are emotion-developing toys for kids?

Emotion-developing toys are toys designed to help children nurture skills like empathy, joyfulness, excitement, frustration, sadness, and anger and help them simulate real-life situations or relationships for better emotional awareness. Examples include puzzles, board games, stuffed toys, dolls, rapid rumble, flashcards, play kitchen, painting, drawing, and more!

References:

  1. https://www.britannica.com/science/emotional-intelligence
  2. https://www.psichi.org/page/281Eye-IQ-vs-EQ-for-Career-Success#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20EQ,emotions%20(Cherry%2C%202022a).

 

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