Emotions and feelings are a part of daily life from when we wake up until we go to bed, and they include the ups, the downs and the in-betweens.

- We're going to explore the different feelings we go through, how we express them and how we see others' emotions.

- And we'll learn some tips for managing the more difficult feelings we experience.

Speaking of feelings and emotions, how are you feeling, Lily?

- Well, Rhys, I'm feeling excited because we're doing the TV show today.

- Sounds like we're getting a call.

- Let's see who it is.

- Hi, Rhys and Lily.

I'm Doctor Mapes.

I'm a pediatric psychologist at Akron Children's, and I help kids learn about their emotions.

And I know that kids experience a lot of different emotions.

So, to highlight how many there are, I have a challenge for you.

It's called "Rapid-Fire Feelings."

I want you to work together and write down as many emotions as you can think of.

You only get 25 seconds to do it.

You can write them down on the large pad of paper.

Are you up for it?

- Yes.

And to all of you watching, feel free to do this challenge with us.

- And if you don't have paper and a pen, you can just call out the emotions you know.

- OK.

Ready?

- Thank you.

- And go.

- Spooked.

- Happy.

Mad.

Sad.

- Angry.

- Frustrated.

- Oh.

I wrote angry.

There we go.

Uh.

- Uh.

Excited.

- Stressed.

- Scared.

- Upset.

Wait, that's not.

- Irritated.

- Oh, that's a good one.

No.

- That was 25 seconds.

- That was so short.

Wow.

- OK, let's read our list.

- Okay.

So, I had happy, mad, sad, frustrated, excited, scared and irritated.

- I got spooked, angry and stressed.

- Nice job, Rhys and Lily.

Now I have a list of emotions for you to compare yours against.

It's on the pillar next to you.

Go ahead and open it.

And thank you for doing this challenge.

- Wow.

- Wow.

A really long list of feelings.

- Oh my gosh.

- Oh, wow.

- Oh.

Oh my goodness.

- Okay.

Hold on.

- Oh, wow.

- We should read it.

Okay.

- Angry.

Frustrated.

Irritated.

Annoyed.

Enraged.

Furious.

Hateful.

Hostile.

Come on.

- Confused.

Doubtful.

Uncertain.

Indecisive.

Hesitant.

Baffled.

Perplexed.

Chaotic.

Proud.

Happy.

Pleased.

Anxious.

Overwhelmed.

Vulnerable.

Embarrassed.

Wow.

That is a long list of feelings.

- Let's show 'em.

Imagine you're just walking around like, "Man, I don't know how I'm feeling today."

Then randomly you pull this out like pretend you're like, "I don't know how I'm feeling today."

- I don't know how I'm feeling today.

- Look up here.

- Let's see, right there.

Identifying an emotion could be tough.

- We're going to see how good others are at identifying emotions with our next segment.

- In it, we'll see kids acting out different emotions as others try to guess which emotion they see.

Ready to watch?

- Let's do it.

This is "Acting Out Emotions."

- Hi, everyone!

My name is Doctor Love and I'm a pediatric psychologist with Akron Children's.

We're at the Magical Theatre Company in Barberton, Ohio, and this is "Acting Out Emotions."

We have young actors who are going to act out different emotions and scenarios on stage.

Then our audience will guess which emotion they're acting out.

We're doing this segment to help kids with identifying emotions and show how we all might notice different emotions and situations.

So actors, are you ready to get started?

Yeah!

- Mom, Dad!

Guess what?

I got an A-plus on my math test.

Oh, we're so proud of you, honey.

That's great.

Awesome.

But you're on your phones, you're barely even paying attention to me.

Oh, well, we're working right now.

Yeah, we're really busy.

Are you sure about that?

I worked really, really hard.

We know, and we're really proud of you.

I was up so late.

Yeah, but we're really busy.

No you're not.

You don't even care.

- All right.

Does anyone have any guesses on what emotion we just saw there?

- Angry and, and ignoring.

- Oh, angry and ignoring.

That's a great guess.

- Because the kid was getting angry was getting angry because - because the parents were on the phone and the parents were, like, ignoring her good news.

- Yeah, they weren't paying attention.

Right.

Any other guesses that anybody has?

Go ahead.

- Frustration.

- Oh, what made you think frustration?

- Because they weren't really paying attention to her when she had exciting news.

- Yeah, they weren't paying attention, right.

Any other guesses that anyone has?

- Like, the little girl was upset.

I'd be upset if my parents ignored me.

- Yeah, absolutely.

I think you all came up with such good ideas.

And I think it's so interesting how we can all look at that situation and come up with different emotions.

So we had one emotion in mind for this scene and it was hurt.

But you all had such great guesses, too.

And I think all the options that you came up with make a lot of sense.

Is anyone surprised that we picked hurt for that one?

Yeah.

Did that one make sense?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- All right.

We're ready for our next emotion.

- The last 10 questions on that math test were so weird.

Oh, hey guys.

- Hi.

Oh no.

Wow, you really dropped all of your stuff.

Yeah.

- All right, does anyone have any guesses for that one?

You in the back there.

- Nervous?

- Nervous.

That's a really, really good guess.

What made you say nervous?

- The way he was stuttering and talking.

- Yeah, like his stuttering and the way he was talking.

What were you thinking?

- I was thinking embarrassed because he fell in front of two kids and they was laughing at him.

- Yeah, they were laughing at him.

That's a great guess, embarrassed.

And you in the back there.

- Upset.

- Oh, why'd you pick upset?

Because those kids ran into him and they just laughed at him when they walked away.

- Yeah.

What are some things that you think that the other kids who started laughing maybe could have done differently when he dropped his books?

What are you thinking?

- They could have, like, helped him pick them up or say sorry.

- Yeah.

Being helpful, right.

That could have made a really big difference.

So the emotion that we had in mind was embarrassed.

So great job with that guess there.

But again, we can all see different emotions in the same situation.

And you all had really good guesses.

Are we ready to see another emotion?

- Yes.

- All right.

- Allison.

I've got some bad news.

You didn't make the cut.

Are you kidding?

I'm sorry.

There was a lot of competition at your position and this year just wasn't your year.

I'm sorry.

I worked so hard.

I know I saw that out there.

I saw your play, but it just wasn't enough.

And all of my friends made it, but I'm going to be alone?

Yep, that's why I wanted to talk to you.

I know how hard it is to not make a team, but I'm sorry.

OK.

Thanks.

- All right, what are some guesses for the emotions?

You in the back there?

- Disappointed.

- That is such a good guess.

What made you pick disappointed?

- Because she didn't make the cut.

- Yeah, she didn't make the cut.

And what did you think?

- I'd definitely say the coach probably felt bad for, for her not making the cut.

- Yeah, some of us are noticing, you know, what the player might be feeling.

Some are noticing what the coach might be feeling.

What's a guess that you have?

- Disappointed, too, because, like, she tried really hard for it and just didn't make it.

- Yeah.

What were you thinking?

- Lonely, because she was the only one of her friends that didn't make the team.

And, confused because she worked really hard.

- Yeah, absolutely.

She might be feeling a whole bunch of different emotions.

And you all came up with such good guesses that make a ton of sense.

The emotion we're looking for is disappointed from this one.

But you all had really good options, too.

We can notice a lot of different emotions in the same situation, right?

Emotions can be complicated.

Sometimes we might have even multiple emotions at the same time.

So you all did such a great job.

I want to give a thank you to all of our actors.

Let's give them another round of applause.

And thank you to you all for participating today.

You did such a great job.

- Sometimes strong emotions like anger feel like they'll never go away, but they do go away and feelings do change.

- To show this, we asked kids to record videos over a weekend, sharing their feelings in the moment.

- The goal is to see how much their emotions changed over time, and a doctor will weigh in on what they see.

- This is "The Feelings Log."

- We're going to watch videos from kids.

In them, the kids will talk about how they're feeling and we'll see their emotions mapped out over time.

They'll range from light to heavy.

Light emotions are like happy, excited, joyful.

Heavy emotions are ones that feel like angry, scared or sad.

While some heavy emotions can feel like they will never go away, we'll see how they change frequently.

Let's watch.

- Hello, my name is Levi and I'm 10 years old.

Today is Friday and I'm feeling really fresh because guess what?

I just got my hair cut.

Right now I'm excited because we're about to watch a show about the planets and all about the solar system.

Right now, I'm frustrated because I have to clean my room.

Right now, I feel mad because I have to do and listen to what my parents say.

Right now, I feel hungry because lunch is ready and I was too busy playing.

I just got home from karate and I feel tired because we were doing self-defense moves.

We were running and doing laps and then we were like doing punching and all the running stuff.

Right now, I'm feeling really tired and hungry because I just woke up and it's time for breakfast.

I just got home from the store and I'm feeling happy because I'm playing with my microscope.

I'm very frustrated because I have to do my homework.

Right now I'm feeling happy because I'm playing with my dog and watching TV.

- Levi did a great job labeling his feelings.

We saw how they change frequently over time and they didn't last that long.

It's very normal to have many different feelings.

- Hi, I'm Ceci and I'm 10 years old.

Today, I'm really excited because my school's hosting a father-daughter dance and there's a Hula Hoop contest and raffle baskets.

And I've never won a raffle basket but I hope I do this year.

And I got this really awesome outfit for it, and I'm really excited to wear it there and show my friends.

Hi.

Right now, I'm really tired and sore because I just had a basketball game.

We won 21 to 11, but the girl I was guarding kept elbowing me, so that's why I'm really sore.

Also, basketball just makes me sore, because we have to run around a lot.

I'm really hungry and definitely planning on eating a sandwich soon.

But I'm so mad because my mom's going to make me clean my room today, and I hate cleaning.

Hi.

Right now, I'm not as mad that my mom making - is making me clean my room because my next-door neighbor, who is also my friend, got to come over so I get to clean while I'm also - while I also have a friend over.

Right now, I'm really happy and comfortable because my mom let me put on PJs early and it's only the afternoon.

I'm really excited for my acting and musical theater class tomorrow because I love that class so much.

It's like so much fun.

Hi.

Right now, I'm kind of mad because my mom's make me clean more today again.

Just like yesterday.

But, I'm probably planning on listening to music while I'm cleaning, so that might make it more fun because I love singing and I love music.

Right now, I'm feeling really happy, and I have a mustache.

Mustache.

We won my basketball game, so we'll go to the next tournament and I really hope we make it to the championship.

I'm really nervous because I have a test tomorrow and I'm going to study for the test so much tonight because I really don't want to get a bad grade.

That's about it, bye.

- I was impressed with Ceci's description of her emotions.

She described feeling mad because she had to clean, but then she said that spending time with friends and listening to music helped her feel less mad.

Just annoyed.

So we learned that listening to music and spending time with friends were coping strategies.

She also talked about having nervousness or anxiety for an upcoming test.

It's important to know that it's normal and not all anxiety is bad.

Sometimes anxiety means that we care and it motivates us to study like it did for Ceci.

But sometimes anxiety can get so big that it gets in the way of studying and we can't sleep and we get too anxious to do well.

That's when it's important to use our coping skills, talk to an adult or find other tools to manage those feelings.

Remember, feelings can change frequently.

If you are having heavy feelings, you can do deep breathing exercises or talk to an adult while they're happening, but they won't last forever.

- Hi, I'm Doctor Catherine Scherer.

I'm a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at Akron Children's Hospital, and we're here at the Senders Pediatrics Family Kindness Festival.

It's a chance to celebrate kids and to see how the next generation is making the world a better place.

From starting businesses to volunteering and all these other creative ways, we're here to encourage everyone to have fun, do good, and be kind.

and I started Zoey's Kindness Club.

I started it because I wanted to spread kindness and inclusivity in my community, and it started off by just me making bracelets and passing them to students and staff at my school.

But then it got bigger, and I started going to car shows with my grandpa and passing them out.

And then I got donations for them and all the donations that I get, I donate to charities that I believe in.

Some of my favorites are the ones that help animals and kids.

Here is a station where you can make a bracelet and either put it in the bucket for other people, or you can take it.

And then over there is little cups that you can take home and do somewhere else.

I really like it when people get bracelets, because lots of times they're really, really excited about it and they like it a lot.

I feel like people could be kinder to each other by just like holding a door open for someone or complimenting someone.

There's never, like, too small of an act.

- Kindness is really important to everybody.

It helps both the person who's being kind and the person who's receiving that kindness.

We know from studies that the person, actually the person who is being kind, gets more benefit in their brain than the person that actually is receiving that kindness.

We know that kindness makes people less anxious.

It helps them be less lonely, and it makes everybody happy.

My name is Sachin Malhotra and I'm 11 years old.

When I finish my drawings, I frame them, and sometimes I'll put them on a T-shirt or a hat, and I'll try to sell them at the next farmers market I attend.

This was one of my first drawings and it was very popular, so I decided to print this onto a T-shirt.

I use half of my profits to buy art supplies for the kids at Akron Children's Hospital.

Donating art supplies for the kids in the hospital makes me feel really proud and happy, because they get the supplies they need to make art too.

I think people could be kinder to each other by connecting and finding out each other's stories, and always finding out ways to help when you can.

- So families can be really intentional about being kind, because sometimes we miss it in our busy day.

So sitting around the table, we might ask, "What good things happened to you today?"

so that you can have some gratitude.

We can also make sure that we're really pointing out times when catching people being good, catching people being kind.

Families can also set goals with volunteering, whether that's in their community, with their schools, or even with their neighborhood.

- My name is Catherine Fazio, and I'm 17 years old, and I'm a member of the Generation G Youth Board at GiGi's Playhouse Cleveland.

So Gigi's Playhouse is a network of achievement centers for individuals with Down syndrome and their families.

We provide free therapeutic and educational programs from the prenatal diagnosis all the way until adulthood.

GiGi's Playhouse's mission is to change the way the world views Down syndrome and send a global message of acceptance to all.

I volunteer at GiGi's Playhouse because I babysit for the most amazing little girl.

Her name is Oakley and she has Down syndrome.

She's full of pure love and joy and every room she walks into, she just lights it up.

And over the past two years, she's become family.

And I've just fallen in love with her.

And it really bothered me that anyone would ever think differently of her or exclude her just because of a label she has.

I hope to create a world where people aren't just included, but they're valued and embraced for who they really are.

I think one of the best ways we can be kinder to each other is instead of like being like, ashamed of our differences, we need to celebrate them.

And I think that's something GiGi's Playhouse really focuses on.

So if you're really trying to make a difference in the world, instead of putting someone down for being different, make sure you really value those, because that's what makes this world interesting.

- Kindness is power, and it is easy to be kind.

I think it should be everybody's goal to do at least 1 to 2 kind things a day for their family, 1 to 2 kind things for their teachers, another for their friends.

You can never run out of kindness.

- Hopefully we'll all be a little kinder after today.

- Now, we're gonna talk about emotions and feelings with some experts from Akron Children's.

- We have Monica Cunningham and Doctor Mapes here with us today.

Welcome.

Can you tell us what your specialty is and what do you do?

- I'm Monica Cunningham.

I am a community health educator teaching the Nurturing Families Program to parents that have children 0 to 5.

- And I'm Doctor Ayla Mapes.

I'm a pediatric psychologist at Akron Children's.

So I work with children and families providing mental and behavioral health treatment.

So I teach them how to cope with feelings, change your thoughts, learn about the connection between our physical and mental health and teach parents tips for working with their kids on challenging behaviors or just interacting with their kids.

- Well, thanks for joining us.

In our episode today, we saw a lot of different emotions and feelings.

What can you tell us about them?

- Well, we all have them and they can feel really big and really intense sometimes, or heavy.

So I like to categorize feelings as heavy or light.

Some heavy feelings might be anxiety, sadness, fear.

And light feelings might be happy or joy or excitement, surprise.

And sometimes when we have heavy feelings, we want to ignore them and pretend they're not happening.

But then that makes them bigger and it makes them last longer.

So, when we have heavy feelings, we want to name the feeling.

We want to rate it.

So is it big?

Is it small?

We want to pay attention to how it makes us feel in our body.

So maybe our stomach hurts or our head hurts, or our heart is racing and we're hot.

And then we can learn coping skills to manage those feelings.

- Yeah, so for our little ones, our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, it's really important for parents to label the feelings that they think that their child is having.

And so over time, then it starts to educate the child that that's the word that's attached to the feeling that they're having.

- When you're little big emotions can feel like they're permanent.

Do you have any advice to help kids when they're feeling that way?

- Good question.

Emotions are naturally fleeting.

They don't last very long, but they can feel like they do.

And they can feel really intense and uncomfortable.

And so that's why it's good to have a whole bunch of different coping skills to manage those different feelings.

I like to think of coping skills like tools for life.

Like you're a construction worker and you have a construction belt, right?

And you have your different tools on there, like a hammer or a screwdriver for different situations.

We want to have the same kind of tool belt for life.

So tools might be deep breathing for anxiety, or maybe going for a walk, or exercising for sadness, or talking to an adult.

Those are all the tools you want to keep adding and trying different ones to figure out what works.

- What's the best thing to do when a young kid is having an epic, tear-filled meltdown in the middle of the cereal aisle?

- There is probably no chance that we're going to get out of toddlerhood or preschool years without seeing a temper tantrum or a meltdown.

Especially if the child is hungry, tired, in a new environment, it's very age appropriate for our little ones to have meltdowns.

It's important for parents to have a plan in place when that happens.

Above all, start out by being calm.

Stay calm.

If you raise your voice, they're going to raise their voice.

Label the feeling that you think that they're having.

Say that to them.

I see that you're angry.

You're upset that you're not getting that cereal.

We're not going to buy that cereal today.

So it's OK for you to be angry.

You're allowed to cry.

We're going to go ahead and continue our grocery shopping now.

So I need you to hold on to the cart or hold my hand.

And we're going to finish up shopping, and then we'll go home and tell them what you're going to do next - something to look forward to.

But above all, we want to remind parents do not give in to what they're upset about, because if we do, that's basically rewarding them for that behavior, and it's going to encourage them to do it the next time.

- OK, fine.

Just take the cereal.

Stop crying.

- Yeah.

Because then every time we see cereal and we want it - big emotions, right?

- Yeah.

- Are there any other tips or advice you have for kids related to emotions or feelings?

I really encourage parents to remember that all feelings are great, all feelings are important.

There's not good feelings or bad feelings.

They're all important.

And so we want to remember to remain calm, be patient and use age-appropriate language when we're talking with our kids about their feelings.

- Now we're going to test your "EMO IQ."

That means emotional intelligence.

We'll ask you questions about conversations with kids.

And you have to choose the right answer.

Are you ready?

- Ready.

- OK.

OK.

You text your teen about how their test went today.

Which response says they're unhappy about it?

A is "good," B is a thumbs up emoji, C, "don't worry about it," or D, they left you on read.

- D.

- Yeah, I agree D.

- Whoa, yeah, you got it.

You ask your kid, "How is school today?"

when they get home.

They just say, "fine," but are clearly upset.

What do you do next?

Say, "You seem quiet; when you're ready, I'm here to listen."

B, ask open-ended questions.

C, give them space and try again later.

Or D, all of the above.

- I would say all of the above.

Same all the above.

- Drum roll.

Yay!

You got it.

- Yeah, I think all of those are really good responses to a teen who comes home and has had a rough day.

Sometimes a teenager needs you to ask them some open ended-questions so they can talk and process it, but sometimes they need to just have some space to calm down, and then they can come to you on their own terms.

But letting them know that you see them, but then you're going to wait for them when they're ready to talk to you is honestly the best thing to do.

- If anyone watching has more questions about feelings or emotions and would like to ask an expert, just message us on Facebook or Instagram.

- Thank you both for being a part of our show and answering our questions about feelings and emotions.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah, thank you.

- We'll be right back after another "Moment of Childhood."

- Today, we've explored a lot about emotions and feelings and learned some helpful tips.

- Right.

We know that we can all see or feel something different in the same situation.

We saw that emotions can feel like they never end, but they change pretty often, so big feelings aren't usually permanent.

- And we learned a few tools to help us take a minute when we're feeling overwhelmed.

- We hope you enjoyed watching this episode of "More childhood, please.®" If you have any thoughts on topics or challenges you'd like to see on another episode, message us on Facebook and Instagram.

- We'll see you on the next episode.

- Bye.

You wanna try it this time?

- Sure, but let's go make some new ones, too.