Let's face it, it can be hard to find the right ways to talk to kids about tough conversations and lessons. But if you’re a parent looking for an easy way to get the conversation started in a fun and engaging manner, why not start with a movie?
One movie I recommend as an excellent source of conversation points between you and your kids is Pixar’s “Inside Out.” If you haven’t seen it yet, this adventure into the mind of young Riley has many messages that can help teach your children important lessons.
Today, we’re going to explore four of these topics that are perfect for you and your kids to discuss together. We’ll talk about the importance of expressing emotions, developing empathy, overcoming adversity and understanding the positive power of nostalgia. So let's get started!
What “Inside Out” Teaches Us About Emotions
"Inside Out" is a movie about the five emotions that live inside Riley, an 11-year-old girl. Each emotion—Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger—is represented by a character who helps Riley navigate her life and her growing up.
This Pixar movie is so much more than a story about emotions—it's a great story for parents to watch with their kids and talk about four key lessons. Kids can learn how to recognize and express their emotions in positive ways, as well as how to manage conflicts with others.
First off, "Inside Out" shows us that all feelings are ok. It's alright to feel scared, angry or sad sometimes because these are all normal human reactions. Children need help understanding the way their emotions work in order to be able to accept their range of feelings with grace.
Exploring What Fear Tries to Teach Us
The character Fear in Inside Out is an incredibly important one, as he tries to remind Riley and her parents that fear is not always a bad thing. Fear can be a guide that helps us avoid danger and keep us safe. It's also something that can be better understood and managed with some practice.
Here are some key lessons to discuss with your kids that Fear tries to teach the family in Inside Out:
Embrace potential risks: When Fear warns of potential risks, it's important to consider all the options before making a decision. Encourage your kids to take small risks sometimes, like trying something new or speaking up in class.
Look before you leap: Understand consequences now so that there aren't any surprises later! Remind your kids to pause before making a decision and think about what could go wrong.
Manage fear and anxiety: Before jumping into something, give yourself space for the fear and anxiety to pass. Learning more about the source of fear and understanding why it exists can help us better manage it.
Adaptability is key: People have different anxieties and fears, but we all have the power to adapt and find strength within ourselves to overcome it.
Understanding Sadness in a New Light
We all know that understanding and managing our emotions is an important part of life. Watching "Inside Out" can help your kids develop a better understanding of sadness, which can often be misunderstood and overlooked. The movie points out the fact that sadness actually serves an important purpose, helping us to be more resilient and ultimately more grateful for life’s joyful moments.
Sadness Is Necessary
Sadness is a natural emotion; it's never wrong to feel sad at times. In fact, it can be healthy to take time to process difficult experiences and feelings like these. Talking about sadness with your kids will help them understand it in a new light – something that isn’t necessarily bad, but an important part of being human and being able to empathize with others.
Letting Sadness Pass
The movie also helps kids understand that we don’t have to get “stuck” feeling sad; though at times it may seem like sadness will never end, you can always talk about ways with your kids to move past their feelings of sadness when the time is right (exercising, going outside or even just having conversations).
This lesson encourages kids to take responsibility for their own emotional health; they learn that they don’t have to let negative emotions linger too long – they have the power within themselves to work through them and find joy once again in their lives.
Embracing Your Inner Joy
When talking with your child about the lessons of "Inside Out," don't forget to discuss embracing their inner joy. Joy is the main character of the movie, and she shows us that it's important to take time for our own happiness.
An essential message of "Inside Out" is that when we concentrate on our feelings, we can keep things in balance. Just like Joy, who encouraged Riley to embrace her emotions, it's essential for kids (and adults!) to remember that there are times to be serious, and times to just have fun.
There are several simple ways you can encourage your kid to embrace their inner joy:
Make time for laughter - Encourage your child laugh each day by finding activities or media they enjoy and that make them giggle. This helps them find ways to manage their stress in a positive way.
Try something new - Be open with trying out new activities with your child; this helps them learn how to be adaptive and excited about new ideas and opportunities as they come up in life.
Live in the moment - Show them examples of truly living in the moment—put down the phones and tablets so you can be present together and make memories you both will remember!
Find common ground - From watching a movie or playing a video game together, you can show support for your child's interests while strengthening your bond as parent and child.
Make sure your kid knows it's okay if sometimes things don't go as planned— Remind them it’s perfectly normal to feel disappointed when things don't go our way...but that doesn’t mean there isn't room for joy!
Exploring the Impacts of Anger
Another lesson you can talk to your kids about from “Inside Out” is the impacts of anger. Unless anger is managed and explored, it can lead to damaging behaviors that hurt both others and ourselves.
Your kids will get a chance to explore the negative effects of anger when the emotions have a wild time in Headquarters, resulting in chaos. Anger's refusal to listen leads him to do poorly in his potato sack race against Joy—a reminder that unchecked anger can have consequences.
How Anger Can Affect Relationships
Daily, we are faced with situations that can be difficult and uncomfortable and evoke emotions like anger. When discussing with your kids how anger affects relationships, here are some talking points you could use:
Reacting when angry often means saying something regrettable or doing something we later regret
When angry, it's important to take some time away from a situation before reacting
The way we express our feelings matters and words can be powerful
Instead of responding in aggression, taking responsibility for our feelings helps open up more positive conversations
Remind your kids that no one is perfect and we all deal with strong emotions like anger differently. Through this lesson from “Inside Out” you can remind them of strategies for accepting their own feelings as well as understanding how it might affect those around them.
Celebrating Disgust's Role in Life
Everyone has their emotions, even the ones that make us cringe, like Disgust. As a parent, it's important to recognize and acknowledge Disgust's role in life and talk about why it's essential.
Disgust is an important emotion, because it helps us from doing something wrong or dangerous; it keeps us away from trying new things too quickly and helps us to take our time and be more aware about the potential consequences of our choices. It can be a signal for us to stop and consider something in greater detail before we move forward.
When discussing Disgust’s role with your child, point out specific scenarios like eating something potentially dangerous, or making a decision that could have unwanted consequences that get avoided by stopping to think things through.
It's also important to remind them they don’t have to be scared of Disgust itself—it just means they need to stop and do some research before they jump into something they're not sure of yet. Taking our time (and listening to Disgust) is a good thing!
Conclusion
Understanding and being able to discuss the key lessons from “Inside Out” with your kids can help them develop a better appreciation for the emotions that many of us experience daily. It’s important for kids to know that it’s okay to have a mix of both happy and sad emotions, and that those emotions are part of being human.
We can all benefit from discussing these four lessons with our kids. It’s important for us as adults to listen and be supportive, while also helping our children recognize the power of their own emotions. By teaching our children how to recognize, accept, and process their emotions, we can help them become emotionally resilient and successful in life.
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