Having children is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in life. Having a child with special needs can give you an even more unique parenting perspective. You learn to appreciate when your child hits milestones. You learn to love more and judge less. We have four kids. Two of our children have special needs. (Down syndrome and Hyperlexia) Over the years, we have seen the benefit of teaching all of our kids important concepts through hands-on play. Emotions are one of the most important and challenging concepts to teach. Learning to identify, communicate, and handle emotions in daily situations is an important part of life for everyone.

We have learned several effective ways to help kids with emotions through both parenting and professional experiences. Here are some important things about emotions everyone needs to learn:

• Identify how you feel at the moment
• Communicate to others how you feel
• Display emotion so others can see how you feel
• Recognize emotion displayed by others
• Manage emotions as you feel them in situations

These are the basics. It's important to be patient and work on these things intentionally. Repetition is important. Kids are always observing and learning from what you do, so do your best to show them how you personally identify, communicate, and handle your emotions.

We love to share what we have learned with others. Two years ago, we decided to start creating hands-on games that help kids with things like emotions, motor skills, transitions, and sensory play. You can see more about our family and the games we have created at our website and social media pages below:

www.gamesforspecialneeds.com

www.facebook.com/specialneedsgames

www.instagram.com/specialneedsgames