What is Emotional Intelligence And Why Does It Matter?
 Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage your emotions and understand the emotions of others. It’s an important skill that helps you ride the ups and downs of life, meaning you’re better able to handle stress when it arises.
Emotional intelligence helps in all areas of your life but it’s particularly important for your social life. With a strong foundation in emotional intelligence, you’re better able to form and maintain strong relationships with friends and family.
Developing Emotional Intelligence
 Emotional intelligence is something that can be learned and developed throughout our lives. Our foundations start when we’re very young, so interactions with parents and guardians will help to establish our emotional intelligence.
As a parent or carer, being a good role model can help build your child’s emotional intelligence. Seeing you displaying empathy and naming and managing your emotions is a great way for children to learn how to do this themselves. And, if this hasn’t been top of mind for you yet, the good news is it’s never too late to start!
How Can OSHC Help Build Emotional Intelligence?
 We can all improve our emotional intelligence by learning and practising skills throughout our lives. Children need to understand how to deal with emotions without acting upon them, and this takes plenty of practice across a range of different settings such as home, school, and sporting environments.
Attending OSHC gives children more chances to interact, collaborate and navigate conflict in a group setting – which means plenty of opportunities to help increase their emotional intelligence.
OSHC can help build emotional intelligence in children by:
- Offering opportunities for your child to interact with children from a range of different backgrounds and age groups that differ from your child’s classroom. This helps build their capacity for empathy and creating and maintaining friendships.
- Building problem-solving skills as children negotiate structured and unstructured play in diverse groups and a range of different settings. As issues arise, your child learns how to solve conflicts and navigate disagreements in these settings.
- Being a safe place for children to learn how to express their feelings in a socially acceptable way. This is especially important for young children who are just starting their school journey and haven’t had a lot of opportunity to practise these skills yet.
- Providing structured support from OSHC Educators who can assist in modelling conflict resolution and arming your child with strategies to use on their own. OSHC educators can also assist children to name their feelings and manage – a skill they can take with them into all areas of their lives.
Emotional intelligence is an essential life skill. Helping build and improve your child’s emotional intelligence can help set them up for future success – where they can easily handle stresses and conflict, and have positive and strong relationships with the people in their lives.
Read more about emotional intelligence:
Health Direct – Emotional Intelligence
Autralian & New Zealand Mental Health Association – Emotional Intelligence in Children
Positive Psychology – 19+ Innovative Ways to Teach Emotional Intelligence to Kids
