How to Raise Emotionally Intelligent Kids

Intelligent kids are one thing but they will not get anywhere in life if they are not emotionally intelligent as well. There are four criterions for measuring the emotional intelligence of any child.
• Criteria number one is the ability to identify emotions. This means that you are able to identify how others around you must feel.

• The second criterion knows how to generate an emotion and also reason with emotions that come up.

• The third criteria are to know how to understand complex emotions and how they transform from one stage another.

• The fourth is the skill of manning one's emotions so that decisions and behaviors are not based on them. These are social skills that no child should be without.
Part of this is establishing emotional security in the child when it is very young. You need to nurture the baby when he or she is very young. The first two years have to do with language development and this is the time to develop positive self-talk and also a time to instill how to talk kindly to others. This is the time to make the child feel secure, to relate to him and to nurture positive thoughts and emotions.

The more social interaction your child has the more able he or she will be able to intermingle successfully with others. Emotional well-being is also the ability to get things off the chest. If your child does have a problem let him or her know it is okay and also that it is okay to express their feelings as well. Stuffing feelings down leads to insecure kids, mentally ill kids and kids with anger problems. Many children who are shamed for expressing their feelings tend to be angry, controlling and shame others. They have no idea how to make others feel loved and therefore never get the love they need.

The child learns emotional skills from birth to four years old and after that their emotional make-up may be difficult to develop further. This is why any type of emotional abuse is so hard on a kid. Be aware that if you are not there for your child and communicating in loving way you may be setting up your child for real disaster. If you are a mother with normal instincts then teaching your child to relate to others should be simple; it really is a thing that most emotionally healthy mothers have a gut instinct to do.

Even More Free Ways to Have Fun with Kids

In the last few blogs we have been discussing ways to have fun with kids without spending money; interestingly many of these types of activities are very healthy for your relationship with your child as they are also very bonding. They also require more creativity then just sitting in front of the television.

One way to entertain very young children is to simply mix up some bubble solution and blow bubbles. Young children also love playing with clay or play dough. You can make your own play dough out of flour and water.

Most kids are old enough to understand the principles behind scrap booking. Give them a subject and ask them to create a scrapbook devoted to it. Teach them how to press flowers and make simple cards and book marks.

You can also get them to decorate their own T-shirts or other clothing using markers, glitter and fabric paints. Creative kids really enjoy making collages and jeweler out of macaroni. Spray paint it gold to make it extra glamorous for the kids to work with.

Another great project for kids is to decorate the front sidewalks with chalk drawings or to decorate the side of flowerpots with paints. You can also teach them how to grow rudimentary plant cuttings or how to grow an avocado from scratch in water.

Many cities and towns have free concerts in their towns and parks. Going out to socialize with others and listen to free performances is a very good thing to do with any child of any age.

If health is a concern then consider going to Yoga class with your child. Many kids also really enjoy being taken to the beach or on a stroll through the forest. Many local parks have real hikes that have educational postings for children.

Washing the family car together can turn into a fun project, especially if you can turn the whole venture into a water fight.

If you have a kid who is less physically oriented then consider teaching him or her different card games or playing Scrabble or Yahtzee together. Hanged man is also a good game for this type of child to learn.

An older child might be interested in helping to design a family website. There are many templates online that make this quite easy. If your teen is old enough help him or her put together a great facebook or myspace page.