2024-05-06
Activities Books Tapes

What to Expect at This Stage

2-4 year-old child
Children this age are spending more time with other kids--in day care, at preschool, or on the playground. Through these interactions, they learn how actions affect others--for example, that sharing can make others happy, while refusing to take turns can make them angry or sad. They also start to recognize individual differences in the need for comfort. Whereas a toddler might have pulled his mother over to comfort a crying child in the playground, a preschooler realizes that the boy wants his own mommy. Kids often use an egocentric version of the Golden Rule ("He hit me first!") to justify aggression.

Parenting Tips
 Help your child think of others: "Look at Tanya's face. See how sad she is? Can you think of anything that would help her feel better?"
 Expand your child's "feelings" vocabulary to include more subtle words like "disappointed," "hurt," "excited," and "proud."
 Encourage imaginary play about feelings. "Let's kiss the doll's boo-boo."
What's the Goal?
To increase a child's consciousness of different kinds of feelings and of herself as an active helper.

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Activities for Younger Children

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Feelings Collage


Materials: Old magazines, heavy paper, glue, scissors, pens

 First look through magazines with your child and identify together how people in the photographs are feeling.

 Then help your child cut the pictures out and glue them on heavy paper.

 Help your child label the feeling under each photo.

 Then talk about a time you experienced one of the feelings shown.



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Beliefnet User Recommendation

Feelings Collage

Materials: Old magazines, heavy paper, glue, scissors, pens

 First look through magazines with your child and identify together how people in the photographs are feeling.

 Then help your child cut the pictures out and glue them on heavy paper.

 Help your child label the feeling under each photo.

 Then talk about a time you experienced one of the feelings shown.



age up age down

For this age group:
[Activities][Books] [Video/Audio]
[Value/Age Overview]

For this age group:
[Activities][Books] [Video/Audio]
[Value/Age Overview]


Picture Books age up age down


All books on all values for this age group Dora's Box
By Ann-Jeanette Campbell, Fabian Negrin (Illustrator)
Knopf; hardcover, 32 pages

Based on the Greek legend of Pandora's Box, this story is about a young girl, Dora, who learns the compassion that accompanies knowledge of both good and evil.
on Amazon.com

A Cure for the Meanies (Pictureback/Crayon Box)
By Tom Dunsmuir, David Silva (Illustrator)
Random House; paperback, 24 pages

When Meanie the Witch has to make an emergency landing in Balloony Town, she intends to spread meanness and misery wherever she goes, but is unable to penetrate the love and generosity of the people there.
on Amazon.com

The Sleeping Rose
By Angela Elwell Hunt, Chuck Gillies (Illustrator)
Thomas Nelson; hardcover, 32 pages

A farmer grows the "perfect rose" and dreams of becoming a royal master gardener. Along the path to his dreams, however, he encounters a beggar who helps him realize what is truly important in life.
on Amazon.com

Beliefnet User Recommendations

Dora's Box
By Ann-Jeanette Campbell, Fabian Negrin (Illustrator)
Knopf; hardcover, 32 pages

Based on the Greek legend of Pandora's Box, this story is about a young girl, Dora, who learns the compassion that accompanies knowledge of both good and evil.
on Amazon.com

A Cure for the Meanies (Pictureback/Crayon Box)
By Tom Dunsmuir, David Silva (Illustrator)
Random House; paperback, 24 pages

When Meanie the Witch has to make an emergency landing in Balloony Town, she intends to spread meanness and misery wherever she goes, but is unable to penetrate the love and generosity of the people there.
on Amazon.com

The Sleeping Rose
By Angela Elwell Hunt, Chuck Gillies (Illustrator)
Thomas Nelson; hardcover, 32 pages

A farmer grows the "perfect rose" and dreams of becoming a royal master gardener. Along the path to his dreams, however, he encounters a beggar who helps him realize what is truly important in life.
on Amazon.com




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For this age group:
[Activities][Books] [Video/Audio]
[Value/Age Overview]

For this age group:
[Activities][Books] [Video/Audio]
[Value/Age Overview]


Videotapes age up age down


All videos on all values for this age group Bear in the Big Blue House, Vol. 4: I Need a Little Help Today
Distributor: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
What do you do for a friend who has the sniffles? Bear's friends respect his need for some quiet time--and also try to help him feel better. 50 minutes. (Jim Henson Home Entertainment)
on Amazon.com

Maisy's Friends
Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
When Charlie the crocodile eats too many cupcakes and gets a tummy ache, Maisy the mouse knows just how he feels and just what to do to help him feel better. Music and animated stories celebrate simple pleasures and rich friendships. 38 minutes. Book available.
on Amazon.com

Thomas the Tank Engine: Thomas Gets Bumped & Other Stories
Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Seven stories centered around jealousy and insecurity--issues preschoolers grapple with almost every day. The deft messages here are never simplistic and the solutions ring true. The narrator is George Carlin. 37 minutes.
on Tower.com

Audiotapes


The Evergreens: Gentle Tales of Nature
Odds Bodkin opens this lovely, peaceful story tape appropriate for children four and up with a story of an empathic evergreen tree who takes pity on a freezing bird.
on Chinaberry.com.



Beliefnet User Recommendations

Bear in the Big Blue House, Vol. 4: I Need a Little Help Today
Distributor: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
What do you do for a friend who has the sniffles? Bear's friends respect his need for some quiet time--and also try to help him feel better. 50 minutes. (Jim Henson Home Entertainment)
on Amazon.com

Maisy's Friends
Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
When Charlie the crocodile eats too many cupcakes and gets a tummy ache, Maisy the mouse knows just how he feels and just what to do to help him feel better. Music and animated stories celebrate simple pleasures and rich friendships. 38 minutes. Book available.
on Amazon.com




age up age down

For this age group:
[Activities][Books] [Video/Audio]
[Value/Age Overview]

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