Disclosure: Mama Smith’s Review Blog received this item in exchange for her honest review. All opinions expressed are 100% hers.
As most of you know, I have two young girls. They are 2.5 and 4 years old and they are at an age where it is very hard for them to manage their emotions. I spend a lot of time calming them down when they at extremes (angry, sad, and even happy) and asking them to take deep breathes and tell me just how they are feeling. I was so excited to discover The Moodsters because I knew right away they would be a valuable emotional intelligence (“EQ”) tool in helping them understand their emotions. I feel so lucky to have been asked to join a team of bloggers to become brand ambassadors for The Moodsters. These guys are awesome and I promise you they will help a lot of kids – and parents as well!
I recently got to chat on the phone with the creator of The Moodsters, Denise Daniels, who is a child development and parenting expert and has authored several books. When asked what drew her to work with children (she was a pediatric nurse, counselor, did grief therapy, and now The Moodsters) she answered “I’m kind of like a child that’s never grown up. I’ve always loved the honesty of children, and I love watching children play—we learn so much by observing our children and sitting back and listening.” On the subject of children’s emotions, she went on to say that several years ago she founded a nonprofit organization titled The National Childhood Grief Institute. There was a major need for this and there were no EQ tools to be found anywhere. She created her own “feelings thermometer” using cardboard and fake mercury so that kids could easily express how they were feeling. This is the same idea as a pain scale.
While developing The Moodsters, a lot of research was done. Not only did Pfizer Pediatrics run a study to discover that the kids who used this thermometer required shorter hospitalizations and less pain medication – the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence researched which emotions should be featured in The Moodsters. The five emotions that they settled on were happy, sad, afraid, angry, and loving. These are the main emotions that children experience. Putting them in to character forms help them relate and understand why they are feeling certain ways and how to express that in a healthy way.
About The Moodsters
The Moodsters are five little detectives (Snorf (sad), Lolly (loving), Quigly (afraid), Razzy (angry), or Coz (happy)) who solve feelings emergencies. They have two human friends, Zach and Zoey, and they collect evidence and solve top-secret cases to help their human friends understand their emotions. The curriculum is based on the RULER method, which stands for helping kids to Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate their emotions. That is their platform, and they evolved from that to the toys, which were developed with Kids Preferred, one of world’s leading toy companies. They’ll be in Target stores starting September 9 and I for one cannot wait! In every storybook, the first couple of pages are “Guidelines for Grownups” that help explain how you need to read the book with your child. Denise explains “You can’t educate one and not the other.” meaning parents and children.
Moodster Meter
Every parent has a thermometer for taking a child’s temperature—now every house should have a Moodster Meter for taking a child’s emotional temperature! Young children don’t always have the vocabulary to describe their emotions, so the Moodster Meter provides a safe, fun, interactive way for kids to show how they’re feeling inside. They just push the Power Up button to align with the character and emotion that represents what they feel: Snorf (sad), Lolly (loving), Quigly (afraid), Razzy (angry), or Coz (happy). By putting the tools for expression right in their hands, the Moodster Meter makes it so much easier for young kids to talk about what’s going on inside. The Moodster Meter comes with a full-color, 32-page storybook, Meet the Moodsters. My girls love their Moodster Meter! We use it every day to discuss our emotions and how we are feeling. They love when Razzy huffs and puffs so they select angry event when they are not angry just to hear him do that. The Moodster Meter will be available at Target and Target.com on September 9 for just $19.99.
[Tweet “Enter to #win a Moodster Meter to celebrate @TheMoodsters coming to @Target! #giveaway #TheMoodsters”]
Connect with The Moodsters on Social Media:
Website: http://themoodsters.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMoodsters
Twitter: https://twitter.com/themoodsters
Enter to win a Moodster Meter using the Gleam form below. Be sure to check out my other giveaways while you are here and GOOD LUCK!