If you’re parenting a toddler, you already know this truth: emotions can arrive loud, fast, and completely out of nowhere. One minute it’s giggles, the next it’s tears over the wrong-coloured spoon.

Here’s the encouraging part: emotional regulation is a skill that can be learned. It’s not something children are born with; it’s something they grow into through relationships, routines, and playful moments.
And the best news? You don’t need fancy programs or special tools to help your child build these skills. You just need presence, patience, and play.

🧠 What Is Emotional Regulation (And Why Does It Matter)?

Emotional regulation is a child’s ability to manage their feelings, calm themselves, and respond to challenges in socially appropriate ways. This skill lays the foundation for:

Coping with stress
Navigating friendships
Developing focus and resilience
Reducing meltdowns and power struggles

According to the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard, co-regulation—the process of a caring adult helping a child manage emotional experiences—is the starting point.
Read more about co-regulation here ›

In the toddler years, your child relies entirely on you to navigate big feelings. Through modeling, sensory play, and consistent emotional language, you’re helping them build a powerful internal toolkit that will support them for years to come.

Playful Ways to Support Emotional Regulation

Play isn’t just fun—it’s your child’s first language. And it’s one of the most powerful tools for helping them process emotions and build emotional intelligence.

Here are some simple, evidence-based play ideas that support emotional regulation:

🧸 Pretend Play & Role Play

When toddlers act out real-life situations—whether it’s comforting a baby doll or pretending a toy animal is sad—they’re learning to recognize emotions in themselves and others.

Try:

Acting out feelings like “worried,” “excited,” or “frustrated”
Using simple storylines that encourage empathy and solutions
Letting your child take the lead in caring for their “characters”

🐵 Puppet & Character Play

Puppets or small figures allow toddlers to explore feelings from a safe distance. A puppet having a meltdown? Totally safe. And an amazing opportunity for learning.

Use this moment to model calming strategies:

“Oh no! Bunny’s upset. What could help Bunny feel better?”

This gives your child emotional vocabulary—and teaches that emotions are welcome, manageable, and not scary.

🗣️ Model Emotional Language

Your voice becomes their inner voice. Use everyday moments to narrate your emotions, and reflect theirs back gently.

Say things like:

“I’m feeling frustrated, so I’m taking deep breaths.”
“I wonder if you're feeling sad it's time to stop playing?”

Over time, they’ll start using the same words and strategies themselves.

Sensory & Movement-Based Play to Calm Big Feelings

Toddlers don’t regulate with words first—they regulate with their bodies. That’s why sensory input (like movement, pressure, and rhythm) is so key to calming their nervous systems.

Try these sensory-friendly, regulation-boosting activities:

🌿 Daily Outdoor Play
Outdoor play isn’t just fun—it’s evidence-based. Being outside supports a child’s overall well-being and directly boosts emotional regulation.
*Here’s what research says:*
2025 Study – Lee, Flouri & Jackson:
Outdoor play between 12 PM and 6 PM significantly enhances emotional regulation in preschoolers. It also supports working memory and aligns with children’s natural body rhythms.
2017 Australian Study – Feng & Astell-Burt:
Access to safe, high-quality green spaces (like family-friendly parks) is associated with better mental health and reduced stress in children over time.
💡 Try:
Running, climbing, swinging, jumping.Going on nature walks or scavenger hunts. Playing chase, tag, or free exploration in green spaces.
✋ Sensory Bins
Offer calming tactile input through:
Rice, lentils, or oats
Water play with cups and scoops
Kinetic sand or playdough
These can be incredibly soothing for little bodies (and minds).

🏃 Big Body Play

Dancing, animal walks, cushion rolling, or bear crawls allow toddlers to release tension while building proprioceptive awareness.

Bonus: These activities are perfect for co-regulation—moving together builds trust and emotional safety.

📅 Want Simple, Playful Tools to Support Emotional Growth?

🎁 Download my FREE 30 Days of Play Calendar—a gentle, screen-free guide filled with OT-designed prompts that foster connection, sensory regulation, and emotional development.

👉 Grab your free calendar here ›

🧸 Looking for the Best Toys to Support Emotional Skills?

Explore my Toy Guides for 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds—handpicked toys that build social-emotional skills through play.

👉 Find the perfect toy for your child’s age ›

💛 Final Note

Big emotions aren’t bad—they’re just big. And they’re part of a toddler’s job as they grow, explore, and learn.

With your loving guidance, a little patience, and playful connection, your toddler will learn how to ride the emotional waves—and come out stronger, more confident, and more connected on the other side.

You’ve got this—and they’ve got you.

🌈 Big Feelings, Little Bodies: How Everyday Play Builds Emotional Regulation in Toddlers