Supporting Children´s Emotional Development through Self-Regulating in Early Childhood Education and Care

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to offer support and information to the daycare personnel through different techniques in supporting children to regulate their emotions in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. This thesis has been conducted as a development-based thesis. Early childhood is a crucial period in a child´s life in which they are constantly developing their social and emotional skills. Emotional development is tightly related to having the ability to self-regulate, recognize, understand, and express own emotions. The target was to create a brochure that includes techniques for helping children to self-regulate with the support of the personnel.

The results showed that personnel found this resource to be valuable and applicable to the children. ECEC will benefit much from the use of these techniques being used daily among the children. In conclusion, providing more resourses to nurture emotional development is crucial because it builds the groundwork for children´s social, cognitive, and behavioral competencies.