Guiding Young Children's Expressions of Anger

Parents can help young children deal with anger by guiding their understanding and management of this emotion. As a result, children will be more likely to deal with their angry feelings directly and non-aggressively. Here are some strategies:

• Model responsible anger management.
  Adults should acknowledge, accept and take responsibility for their own angry feelings and express anger in direct and non-aggressive ways.
• Use books and stories about anger.
  Well presented books and stories about anger validate children's feelings and provide information they can learn from.
• Create a safe emotional climate.
  A healthy setting permits children to acknowledge all feelings, whether pleasant or unpleasant.
• Encourage children to talk about anger arousing interactions. Preschool children better understand anger and other emotions when adults explain emotions.
• Encourage children to label angry feelings.
  Parents can help young children by teaching them that they can use a word to describe their angry feelings. Create a book or a chart that lists different labels for anger (e.g., mad, irritated, annoyed) so that your family can refer to it when discussing angry feelings.