The key to raising emotionally intelligent children is to model the behaviors you want them to emulate. If you are a supportive and loving parent, your children are more likely to develop a sense of self-worth, confidence, and emotional intelligence.

According to clinical psychologists, these are the ways how parents can help their kids develop emotional intelligence:

Honor feelings

Kids learn from the way their parents respond to them. If your child feels you understand their pain and rage, they will know that it’s okay to feel those things. When they feel understood and validated, they’ll be less likely to act out in anger or sadness.

Display empathy

Kids learn how to show empathy by watching the way their parents react when someone else is upset or frustrated. Learning how you deal with kids when they have done something bad will make it easier for your children to understand how to deal with the same emotions and situations. 

Participate in emotionally intelligent play

Playing games together helps children develop social skills and learn how to interact with others. You can also involve your child in developing creative projects like building a fort or playing board games that teach them how to work together as a team rather than compete against each other for victory and loss.

Model social skills

Kids learn to interact with others by observing what adults do around them, whether it’s playing board games with friends at Grandma’s house or joining a club at school where there are lots of different kinds of people who enjoy various things.