"that feels better" - Helping children with their feelings

Do you know what a feeling is? You can’t see a feeling or point to it, because it’s something that happens inside your body. You can have good feelings, like being happy or excited. You can also have feelings that don’t feel good, like being upset or angry. All feelings, both good, bad or in the middle, are OK. You can’t help what you feel.

Good and not-so-good feelings
When you’re happy, you smile or laugh. When you’re excited you jump up and down.

What do you do when you feel angry or upset? Maybe you cry or shout. Does it make you feel better? You can't help having these feelings. But you can manage them so that you don't end up doing things that usually get you into trouble.

"Feelings R OK"
Feelings, whatever they are, are OK. Feeling angry or upset is OK. You can’t help what you feel. What you do when you have these feelings might not be OK. It might not make you feel better, or might mean that you or someone else gets hurt or into trouble. So what can you do instead?

What can I do ‘that feels better’?
As you grow up, it gets easier to manage feelings that don’t feel good. Managing these feelings means that they feel less strong, and can go away. There are lots of things that you can do to practise getting better at managing feelings that don’t feel good.

Everyone should learn how to do this. And if you get better at managing these feelings, you’ll feel happier and get on with other people better. Try some of the games which you can download on the right side of this page.  The feelings game faces and feelings games words to learn more about feelings. Try creating calming pictures in your head and learning calming strategies. These ideas will help you to manage feelings that don’t feel good, so “that feels better”.