1. I Can Still Be Me by Narwhals and Waterfalls

We absolutely love using this song to practice recognizing emotions because it adds a lot of movements that your child can practice with a peer or parent. This song shows that your child can ask for a hug when they feel sad, or high five their friends when they are happy, and encourages them to try it within the song. We also appreciate the emphasis this song has on telling children that we still love them no matter what they are feeling. The song repeats “I can still be me” whether they are feeling happy or sad, and we always recognize that friends and family still like you even when you have big feelings. We encourage you to watch this video and dance along with your child, practicing the different emotions and actions as you go along. 

2. Happy Feet by Music with Mical

This song gives your child the chance to both follow directions and create their own dance moves. As they sing about their “happy feet”, try showing all the ways that you can move your feet that look “happy”. This could look like tapping your toes, dancing around, walking on tippy toes, or doing a kick line. Other actions may show different emotions, such as stomping as angry and running as scared. Follow along to the song, dancing with your child, then ask them afterwards to try different kinds of emotions like “scared feet”, “angry feet”, and “sad feet”. We encourage you to explore all the ways your child demonstrates emotions with an open mind, and try their different dance moves in your own body to see how they feel.

3. All I Wanna Do by Stephanie Leavell

This is a song that can be used freely with many of the emotions that your children experience. It gives a space for your child to explore how they might want to move their body by telling them to dance or stomp for a long period of time. This longer period can help your child express their emotions more fully, as well as show them that it’s okay if it takes a long time to feel better. Try dancing along to this song with your child, and exploring a bunch of different ways that they can follow the instructions while still being creative.

Movement is a great way to help your child recognize and understand emotions in their own body. By moving their body to these songs, your child is learning what different emotions might feel like in their own body. This gives them another way to talk about what they are experiencing when they have “big feelings”, and it can help them start to release some of the pent-up feelings of anger or fear. When your children are experiencing emotions, you can help them notice their own movement by saying “I see that your feet are stomping on the ground. Does your body feel mad right now?” This takes the blame away from the child and helps them to start to understand what is happening during that emotional experience. We encourage you to point out when your own body is moving to emotions (dancing when you are happy, running when you feel scared, etc) and to continue to practice showing your emotions around your children, demonstrating that it is okay to show and talk about their emotions.

If your child needs help in talking about a specific emotion, check out the learning center on our website to see posts about happy, sad, mad, and scared. This blog includes movement ideas, as well as ways to help your child know how to talk about their feelings.

P.S. If you or your child need help with managing emotions and feeling emotionally healthy, contact us to schedule a music therapy session. We’d love to work with you!