Disclosure: I received Kimochi product(s) and information to
facilitate and host this review. I received no other compensation for
this post and was under no obligation to post a positive review. The
opinions contained within, are my own and reflect my experience with the
product(s). Your own may be different.
Can you imagine how frustrating it would be if you were unable to communicate your feelings? Being an emotional invalid that I am I understand sometimes how one might feel if they were unable to communicate with or convey their emotions to another person; I can also, possibly, begin to imagine what it must be like for an infant or young child.
When Sophie was a tiny little thing my Mother and I decided it might be beneficial to everyone, she and ourselves, to learn Sign Language to help her communicate better with us. We taught her the basics and what she needed during the course of every day life. Please, juice, no and yes were among the many she learned but those were only the beginning, the basics of what she needed.
Now, at 2, feelings and being able to identify which is which has become an important step in Sophie's development. One feeling I know she is more than familiar with is frustration and/or anger. She's famous for her tantrums and more often then not I feel they are more a product of us not being able to understand her wants/needs than anything else.
With the difficulty of helping Sophie identify with her feelings I was more than happy to be given the opportunity to work with
Kimochi and was sent their adorable Kimochi friend,
BUG, to review.
BUG
is a caterpillar who is afraid of change. He is thoughtful, cautious
and has secret dreams of flying! Bug lives in a Manzanita tree and plays
the mandolin.
Kimochi (KEY.MO.CHEE) means “feeling” in Japanese and Kimochis are what
come inside each lovable character! Kimochis are small pillows with a
feeling (happy, sad, silly, brave…) printed on one side and a
corresponding facial expression on the other.
"Using the Kimochis, kids can get in touch with their emotions
in a fun and comfortable way through puppetry and play. When kids are
comfortable talking about their feelings and can practice for
challenging moments, they build self-esteem, confidence, character, and
positive social skills that lead to lasting friendships and success in
all aspects of life."
Kimochis are used to:
Connect with children by recognizing feelings and
learning to anticipate situations that can trigger emotional or
Ki-motionals reactions.
Communicate using positive words, gestures and signals that can help children know what to say and do when feelings arise.
Create a comfortable environment to KI.motional conversation and play.
Practice communicating with family and friends
When we received our BUG Kimochi in the mail Sophie was as eager as ever to snatch her new 'toy' out of my hands. Initially there was a lot of ohhhh-ing and ahhhh-ing as she became acquainted with BUG and I was told several times how 'pitty' BUG was with all her bright colors and fun little feeling pillows.
After I'd managed to get her calm enough to sit down for a session of identifying each feeling, she and my 5 year old niece Miss M had a blast as we went through each feeling pillow. It was fun going through them all, making the faces the match each feeling and explaining (as best as you can to a 2 and 5 year old) what each one was.
What a wonderful and unique way to help children identify their own feelings!
The girls enjoyed BUG and its accompanying feelings as much as I did and I doubt there will be any trouble getting them to participate in our next 'play' session.
To learn more about Kimochi's the Toy with Feelings Inside you can visit them online here.
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