Supporting the Development of Expressing Emotion

Early in life, babies express emotions through facial expressions, vocalizations, and body language. The expression of emotion can be defined as “the developing ability to express a variety of feelings through facial expressions, movements, gestures, sounds, or words” (California Department of Education, 2009, p. xi). Understanding and expressing a variety of emotions play a key role in the development of young children’s social relationships. This resource explores the important role of infant/toddler caregivers in supporting babies and toddlers as they develop their capacity to express emotions.

This resource is also available in Spanish.