Music & Emotion: 3 Songs to Understand and Identify Anger
For a kiddo, controlling and communicating their emotions can be a lot to ask. We strive to help clients overcome these challenges by helping children learn about their emotions in a safe environment. Understanding and identifying emotions is an important skill in developing emotional well-being, so we wanted to share some songs you can use in everyday life to help your children recognize and embrace emotions.
This post will identify ways to explore the emotion “Anger”.
Teaching our children how to move their bodies in a helpful manner is a great way to help them cope with big emotions, including anger. When we are mad, blood flow increases to our muscles, so we often feel the need to move our bodies during this emotion. Listen to this song and dance around with your children, following the actions provided in the song. When your children start to feel angry, you can remind them of these movements to help them calm down.
Openly discussing emotions like anger helps children trust the adults they interact with and helps them know that adults will listen to them. When children feel comfortable talking about their feelings, they are more likely to ask for help when they need it. Watch this video with your children and ask them “What makes you feel angry?” Tell them about a time when you felt mad, showing them that it’s okay to feel mad sometimes. Dance along to the song, practicing how to stop and breathe when we feel angry.
By talking about anger and modeling healthy ways to manage it, adults can help children develop positive coping strategies. Our bodies react with stress when we are angry, so one of the most common coping strategy to use with anger is deep breathing. Listen to this song along with your children and teach them how to take a deep breath in, count to four, then breathe out. When your children start to feel angry, you can remind them how to take a deep breath and count to four.
Research has shown that children understand the word “mad” before they understand “anger,” so be sure to use the term “mad” when working with younger children. By openly talking about emotions, you are setting the example for your children to know how to talk about and manage their anger. We encourage you to incorporate these and other songs into your daily routines, so you can help your child learn how to communicate their emotions, and teach them how to manage those feelings.
Wishing you and your family the best,
Warm Regards,
Sarah Wilson and The Harmony Music Therapy Team
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!
