Sneak peek: Social emotional learning toys don’t have to be boring. These ideas will keep your kids growing, learning, and having fun.
My four-year-old was at it again. He, his big brother, and I were doing our usual Target run and they had convinced me to go to the toy aisle. What was I thinking?
The whining and begging from the little guy began pretty much as soon as we entered the first aisle that contained Hot Wheels and Nerf guns.
“Mom, can we get this?” he asked-whined (parent, you know this tone).
“No, sweetie,” I say in my trying-not-to-get-upset voice. “You know, I said we are just looking, not buying today.”
“But Moooom, it’s soooo cool,” he says in that dramatic voice.
Parents, you know how this goes and it hardly ever ends well. Many times, we leave the store with someone crying (hopefully not me).
I get it. He’s only four. Only recently has he gained the mental capacity for putting himself in someone else’s shoes. He’s emotionally immature in many ways. Even though he’s right on track with in terms of toddler development, he’s still learning to regulate his emotions. And those toys are SO tempting. Luckily, my eight-year-old has matured to the point where he can handle the toy aisle without fits of whining.
Unfortunately, as any holiday or birthday approaches, this focus on toys, rather than gratitude or giving tends to only increase in most kids. This year, in thinking about how to approach gift-giving, I decided I will focus on helping parents find gift ideas that promote positive child development—that is, social emotional learning toys that help promote the skills that we want to encourage.
The core of this mindset is a set of social-emotional skills that take years to build. However, parents can be key guides in this development process. Through interaction, connection, and modeling, your kids’ emotional development can blossom. Unlike the “hot” toy of the moment, the gift that these social-emotional skills bring is happiness and contentment—a value that lasts more than one season.
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Related reading: What I learned from MLK’s Legacy About Emotion Regulation in Kids
Here is the list of social emotional learning toys:
Social Emotional Learning Toys
These games just seem like family fun (which they are) but they all involve trying to perceive another person’s thoughts or feelings—key emotional skills that our kids can develop.
A fun game to help kids learn about feelings
Instead of competing against one another, teams in this game work together to help the three dinosaurs escape from the volcanic eruption. It builds strategy, teamwork, and social-emotional skills.
I’m excited about this one because in involves both active play and social skills. Kids have to advise the characters on what to do in certain social situations. Plus, there are that help kids practice physical skills like balance and coordination.
A special card game that helps parents and connect while also learning about social-emotional skills like growth mindset and confidence.
No ordinary plus toy—this feelings toy helps kids understand their emotions and label their feelings. Understanding feelings and using the language for emotions is the first step in helping kids learn how to manage their big emotions.
Aren’t these the cutest things? Each kit comes with a big creature and smaller “feelings” creatures inside. These adorable emotional toys help kids learn about feelings and how to cope with them.
You may also enjoy: Social-Emotional Development: The Ultimate Guide for Parents
For young kids, learning what the different emotions look like and the names for each is the first step in learning emotional skills. These eggs make learning emotions a fun game.
Kindness Activities for Kids
In addition to learning about sharing and kindness, we also want to show our kids how to act on these values too. There are many fun and meaningful options for doing kind and charitable acts together.
This is a kindness activity disguised as an art project. Once your child is done painting, place the rocks around a park or playground to be shared with others.
Books that Foster Social Emotional Skills
The best growth mindset journal
A story of two unlikely friends who join forces to save their home
A simple look at how we are all different but lovely in our way.
Simple ways to pass on joy and happiness
The lovely story of Auggie and his need to belong
Pretend Play for Emotional Development
Kids love to care for animals but with this fun set, there’s no real mess to clean up. Kids can learn empathy and caregiving skills.
I’ve written before about the developmental benefits of dress-up play and it doesn’t have to be Halloween for this to be the case. During dress up play, kids build social emotional development skills like empathy and perspective-taking.
Parents, you will love this one. A toys that encourages cooperative skills and helping while your child has fun.
Dollhouses aren’t just for girls! Now there are many nice gender-neutral ones on the market. Role-playing as family members is one of the best ways to encourage empathy and perspective-taking.
Puppets are underrated in today’s world of high-tech toys. We have only had a few in our house, but the kids always come up with such creative ways to use them: telling stories, trying out silly voices and telling jokes. Believe it or not, all this helps build emotional skills, cooperation, and language skills.
Parents, I hope these ideas provide some new ideas for finding social emotional learning toys for your children.
clare
awesome list!!! i love sarah m too!
Sarah
I love these ideas!! Definitely keeping these bookmarked!!