Small Children, Big Feelings.

Small Children, Big Feelings: Understanding and Supporting Emotional Regulation

50-minute online training | For Early Years and Primary Practitioners (and beyond)

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Big behaviours often come from small children who are overwhelmed, not defiant.

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Small Children, Big Feelings is a concise but impactful training session created for professionals working in Early Years and Primary settings. It supports you to think more deeply about emotional regulation, behaviour, and the decisions you make in response. This session is particularly valuable for those supporting children with additional needs or developmental delays.

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Due to popular demand a version for older children, Big Children, Bigger Feelings, will be available soon. Watch this space!

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What It’s About;

This 50-minute training helps you better understand and support emotional regulation by focusing on what children are actually capable of, based on their developmental stage—not just their age or what others might expect.

The training is built around three key areas:

1. Understanding the Cause

   • Looking beneath the behaviour to identify what's really going on

   • Considering emotional development, life experience, and external influences

   • Being realistic about what a child can and cannot manage at their stage, especially when additional needs are present

2. Building Emotional Intelligence

   • Helping children begin to recognise, name, and manage their emotions

   • Supporting this development in an age- and stage-appropriate way

3. Identifying and Using Strategies

   • Matching strategies to the child’s actual level of understanding and need

   • Understanding the purpose behind each response

   • Reflecting on how and when consequences might support regulation, and when they may do more harm than good

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Who Is It For?;

• Early Years and Primary staff

• SENCOs, Inclusion Leads and Pastoral Teams

• Professionals supporting children with additional or complex needs

• Parents and carers seeking to understand behaviour beyond surface level

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Why This Training?;

This is not about giving you a script for behaviour management. Instead, it invites you to slow down and consider:

• What is the child trying to communicate?

• What are they developmentally capable of?

• What is realistic and helpful to expect from them right now?

​There may not be a quick fix, but there is a more thoughtful, informed response that meets the child where they are.

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What You’ll Get;

• 50 minutes of video training, accessible on demand

• Clear guidance on interpreting behaviour through a developmental lens

• Practical thinking points to support your everyday interactions

• A chance to reframe behaviour not as a problem to control, but as communication to understand

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There is no magic wand. But with the right mindset, you can respond with purpose and compassion.
Start by understanding the child, not just the behaviour.