Children and Verbal and Non-verbal Communication

People communicate in different ways. They express how they feel verbally and non-verbally. Verbal expression is telling someone how you feel. "Please don't say that. That hurts my feelings." Non-verbal expression is showing with your face and/or body movements how you feel. Teaching kids to watch facial expressions and body language in others is important. Let's say your child takes the ball away from a classmate because they’re mad at how the handball game is going. The classmate might hunch their shoulders and look sad because of this. Or give your child an angry look. This is non-verbal expression of how they feel about the matter. They're not happy. When this happens have your child: Stop. Look. Focus. They are to stop what they're doing. Look to see how their actions are making someone feel. Then focus on their behavior. They can make things better by giving the ball back and saying, "Sorry, I took the ball. Go ahead, it's your turn." Paying attention to others feelings is how you keep friends.