How to Talk To Kids About Their Brain | CP202

Mar 28, 2025

Discover effective strategies for helping kids understand their emotions and the brain behind them. Learn how to engage in conversations about feelings, especially during tough moments like anger and frustration. Get tips on timing and playful techniques to create a supportive environment. Special segments are included for kids to directly grasp these concepts, making emotional discussions more relatable and meaningful. Enhance your parenting skills while fostering emotional growth in your child.

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Navigating Big Feelings: Engaging Kids on Brain Function and Emotions

00:00 • 12min

Today's question comes from the community: How do you explain what’s happening in your child’s brain during big emotions in a way they can understand and actually listen to?

We all know that feeling—trying to explain why their emotions feel so big, but they just glaze over or dismiss what you’re saying. Maybe they think you don’t know what you’re talking about, or they just aren’t in the space to absorb the information.

Sometimes, it helps to hear it from someone who isn’t their parent.

For this reason in today's episode, I will guide you through clear and relatable ways to help your child understand what’s happening in their brain during moments of anger, frustration, or overwhelm.

I’ve also included special parts of this episode designed for your child to listen to directly, making it easier for them to grasp these concepts and feel understood.

Jennifer's Takeaways:

Understanding How to Talk to Kids About Their Brain (00:00)
Engaging Kids in Conversations About Their Brain (03:02)
Strategies for Managing Big Feelings (06:13)
Practical Tips for Parents (08:58)
Resources and Additional Support (11:33)

Meet Jennifer Kolari

Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.

Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.

Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.

Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid (Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really): Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).