Think of a challenging situation that has happened in your life and fairly present for you every day – could be a tough dynamic at work, something happening in the larger world, a loss, etc. While it has never been easy to be human, social media and constant reports on all things good and bad has made living in modern times much more complicated.

Favourite activities like reading a book or listening to your favourite song redirect negative feelings and give your child a chance to calm down and breathe. I mean, I was definitely sold on the idea, bottling things up in my mind is fun, but if I can truly bottle them?Dit prentenboek laat op een hele heldere manier zien wat er gebeurd wanneer je je gevoelens wegstopt. While we may not be in control of this, we can learn to ask ourselves more often what we need inside of these challenges. More time is spent on the "bottling up" and less time is spent on the healthy alternative, but I like the general message and I find the artwork interesting. Putting the effort in up front to teach your child these skills will pay off with time as your child learns to manage his or her big feelings in a constructive way. A bit awkward to be an audiobook but of course, for those who have eye problems, this will be beneficial.

Creating a Feelings Jar can help when these emotions become too much and you need to find a way to manage or understand what you are feeling.

We use ours at home, although it's easy to use in the school context if you work with your child’s teacher.

My “forever” marriage was in shambles, and I didn’t know if I could ever trust my own judgment again. Feelings in a jar has been great in my practice to use for rapport building and helping children identify their feelings.She asked questions throughout about the emotions and was very excited by the color representations. Everyone tries to bottle things up and this book really opens up how it's okay to feel but also okay to feel overwhelmed by those feelings at times to. I enjoyed many of the illustrations, and particularly liked Llewellyn's sculpture of a dinosaur with rabbit ears and butterfly wings. Use to open conversation Talk it Out • pull out a card, describe a time when someone might have that feeling, others try to guess the feeling. Sometimes having a firm hug can be far more comforting that someone telling us it is all going to be ok.