As parents, we are prone to try and suppress our children’s emotions. It’s not usually a conscious action, but a natural response, because we always want them to be happy, well behaved participants in society. Unfortunately, this can lead to bigger problems when children don’t learn how to properly manage and express their feelings.
Research has shown that behaviors such as severe tantrums, bullying and even self-harm can be linked to a lack of “emotional intelligence.” Kimochi, which means “feeling” in Japanese, are a series of characters developed by the Plushy Feel Corporation to encourage emotional expression and build confidence and self-esteem in young children.
The series includes a set of characters for different personalities, each with a story and Kimochi pillows (little stuffed shapes that have an emotion written on them.) Each character has a pouch on its front where the Kimochi pillows can be placed, indicating their current feeling(s).
“Cloud” is moody and unpredictable, “Huggtopus” is all smiles and giggles, but needs to learn the boundaries of her big friendly personality, and “Cat” is bossy and persuasive. Kimochis “Bug,” who joined our household, is a caterpillar “afraid of change and he can tuck his wings in his back pocket when he’s feeling particularly cautious.” Bug comes with the Kimochi pillows “Happy,” “Brave” and “Left Out.” We also received a mixed feelings pack that included eight more Kimochis, including a blank one that could be personalized with your emotion of choice.
Also included with each character is a “Feel Guide,” written with a communications expert to offer parents and caregivers fun tips and tricks for positive expression of emotions. There are four goals of the program: connect, communicate, create and practice.
In our fast-paced lives, there has been a decline in the time we spend sitting down with our children to connect on an emotional level. The Kimochis program fosters a strong connection between parents and children, allowing them to recognize and anticipate emotions, understand it is OK to feel certain ways, and learn how to express them safely and positively.
We tried two of the suggested activities with mixed results (but I kept in mind this is an educational toy and isn’t expected to be mastered or understood at first try).
I took all of the Kimochi pillows and put them in a pile on the floor, letting my 4-year-old select one and talk about what he thought it meant. I let him ask questions, and I provided examples. I also tried to bring out Bug and the pillows when we were in the middle of an emotionally charged moment (read: temper tantrum!). He did calm down and tuck the feelings into the Bug’s pouch, but had some trouble trying to explain himself; we will keep working on it!
In addition to home use, the Kimochis program has developed a curriculum for teachers to encourage the development of emotional intelligence in the classroom (referred to as social-emotional learning.). They are also currently used in play therapy and special education environments to help students build confidence and strong relationships with their peers.
While the idea of the Kimochis seems valid and intriguing, I just didn’t feel that it fit into our family. If challenges in communication and emotional expression were to arise in our children, I might look further into the product. I do, however, see the benefit of these characters in the special education and play therapy environments, and perhaps even as an addition to the early childhood education curriculum to encourage healthy communication as opposed to alternatives such as bullying.
Kimochi “Bug”
Manufactured by Kimochis
Available at Kimochis (www.kimochis.com) or Amazon (www.Amazon.com)
$34.99
Appealed to the advertised age range: 3
Instructions were easy to follow: 3
My child played with this multiple times: 1
Small pieces were a problem: No
Messy: No
Would travel well: Yes
Durability: 4
I would purchase this for my family: No
I would purchase this as a gift: No
Overall rating: 3
Meet the Reviewer!
Christy Petrak is a systems engineer currently taking a leave of absence to raise her two children, Thomas (4 years) and Eliza (1 year). She enjoys spending time with her family, swimming and baking/decorating cupcakes.
