The 3 Treasures of Martin: a story to educate the emotions

More and more importance is given to emotional education, that is, to promote the emotional intelligence of the little ones, teaching them how to identify and manage their emotions. However, parents and educators do not have many tools to teach children emotional intelligence.

Martin's Three Treasures it's a simple therapeutic tale, through which three emotions can be worked: sadness, anger and fear.

• You may be interested: "Child Psychology: A Practical Guide for Parents"

Why is it so important to teach children to manage their emotions?

Because children who know how to regulate themselves will become psychologically healthier youth and adults. It would be wonderful if there were also emotional education subjects in schools. Therefore, the main reason I wrote the story was to teach emotional regulation strategies to parents, teachers and psychologists, who can use it in their consultations and workshops.

How does the story work anger?

In the story, the forest gnomes give Martin a feather for him to blow whenever he feels angry:

The treasure of the pen. The feather itself has no power to regulate anger, but the process of using the treasure does.

First, Martin has to go get the pen. The fact of realizing that he has to go looking for her is already a very positive change, because little by little he is becoming aware of the emotion. This point is important because it helps the child to identify his anger. Be aware that when you get angry, internally you are changing: you speed up, you get hot and you feel tension. This is already the first step to change it.

Subsequently repeating the little note that was left next to the pen: "When your calm goes away, blow the pen with enthusiasm" supposes introducing a positive self-instruction. Help Martin verbalize the process and cut out the mental content of anger.

Finally, start "blowing the pen five times slowly and see how it moves." This helps divert attention from the angry object. and to activate the parasympathetic nervous system through deep breathing. The child will notice little by little that he is calming down.

We are also buying time for the descent of the anger curve to take place and that way his emotion loses intensity. The child will be able to calm down and then give an assertive response.

How does the story work sadness?

The second treasure that the dwarves give to Martin is a stone in the shape of a ladybug, which they called: “Maryquita Only”.

With this treasure we are allowing the child to express and share his sorrows with his parents. Let's think that emotions, both positive and negative, are normal. One of the mistakes many parents make is not tolerating their children expressing sadness. They do everything possible to prevent their children from crying and when they do, they do their best to stop the crying as soon as possible.

With this type of action, the message that the child receives is: "I do not allow you to be sad", "being sad is not good, you have to be happy." Once the child already he feels comfortable getting his grief out without feeling judged, You can propose that you look for ways to find yourself better and solutions to your troubles. If necessary we can help you, but never minimizing his emotion.

How does the story work fear?

The third treasure is an amulet with which the child can face what he fears: "The golden almond."

My son, for example, said that he put fear inside the almond and she swallowed it. That symbolism helped him to endure a little more each day alone in his room, until in the end he got used to it and lost the fear of sleeping alone.

Other children say that the almond gives them a super power that it transmits through the pores of its shell. Each child will give their interpretation. The important thing is that this treasure allows you to face the fear of it. Self-instruction: "When fear approaches, grab the hard nut" is a message that helps you focus on embracing fear, rather than shaking it off.

What I wanted to work on here is the idea that when we fear a situation, when we face it we do not do so without fear, but with it. The idea is to embrace fear until it disappears. So don't expect your child to cope successfully on the first day. At first the attitude of wanting to do it will come, then they will try and after several attempts they will gain confidence until they get it.

To buy the story you can do it through the website of the Institute of Psychode Psychology.