Three Simple Activities To Boost Your Child’s Emotional Quotient

“There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse.”

― Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Quotient, commonly known as EQ, is the measure of a person’s emotional intelligence (EI) and plays an important part in our lives, as it helps us deal with the unique challenges that life throws at us. That is why, it is important for parents to take time out and teach their children about emotional intelligence.  

In this article, we will cover:

• What is Emotional Quotient? 
• Indoor Activities To Develop Your Child’s Emotional Quotient

What is Emotional Quotient?

Victor Allen’s book, Supporting Behaviour by Building Resilience and Emotional Intelligence

A Guide for Classroom Teachers, mentions a few things that every parent should know about emotional intelligence. Victor is an educational consultant who works on improving emotional intelligence of both students and school staff. 

In his book, he mentions five characteristics of emotional intelligence mentioned by Daniel Goleman. They are as follows:

• The ability to recognise one’s emotions and the reasons behind them
• The ability to control and manage emotions
• The ability to motivate self
• The ability to understand how others are feeling and respond appropriately
• The ability to develop and sustain social relationships

Indoor Activities To Develop Your Child’s Emotional Quotient

Here are some easy indoor activities, considering the COVID-19 situation, which parents can do at home to develop their child’s emotional intelligence:

Bubble Burst

Requirements: Bubble Wand or Straw, Dishing Soap, Water, Container, Glycerin 

Preparation: Make soap water and check if you can blow bubbles using this water. 

Parental Involvement: High

Instructions:

• First, blow bubbles and encourage the child to burst as many of them as they can. 
• Then, change the rules and ask the child to pop only a couple of bubbles. 
• After that, ask the child to only observe the bubbles as they float or pop on the floor.  
• Repeat the process for a few minutes.

Once the activity is over, ask your child what he/she felt during this activity and probe them to think about what they felt. This activity teaches the child about controlling their impulses, which is a critical part of emotional intelligence. 

Complete The Picture

Requirements: Poster Colours, Paint, Papers, Picture of a child showing different emotions or Emojis

Preparation: Stick the picture of a child displaying different emotions in the middle of the paper, 

Parental Involvement: Average

Instructions: 

• First, encourage the child to identify the emotion displayed by the child in the picture. 
• Then, ask the child to draw possible scenarios that could lead to that emotion.
• Later, discuss these drawings with the child while asking clarifying questions.

If you have two or more children who are willing to participate in this exercise, this can turn out to be an excellent group activity to explore how different situations bring out different emotions in people. 

Bubble Trouble 

Requirements: Bubble Wand or Straw, Dishing Soap, Water, Container, Glycerin 

Preparation: Make soap water and check if you can blow bubbles using this water. 

Parental Involvement: Average

Instructions:

• First, blow bubbles with the child.
• Then, encourage the child to share their observations and opinions. 
• Later, help the child notice things like bubbles that are tiny, other bubbles that are big, and those that pop on their own, etc. 
• After that, explain to them that our emotions are like bubbles too. Some are big, some are small, some emotions go away immediately, and others take a bit longer to fade. 

This activity will help the child understand that emotions are fleeting in nature. To make it more interesting, at the end of this activity, you can ask the children to blow bubbles that depict different emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, etc. This will also act as a conversation starter on emotions. 

These are some fun and simple activities that can help you develop your child’s emotional intelligence by helping them understand their emotions. 

Are you excited to try these out at home? Have you tried these before? Do let us know about your experience with these activities in the comments below or drop a line at storyweavers@byjus.com.