Brain research indicates that emotion and cognition are profoundly interrelated processes. Specifically, recent cognitive neuroscience findings suggest that the neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation may be the same as those underlying cognitive processes.

Emotion and cognition work together, jointly informing the child’s impressions of situations and influencing behavior. Most learning in the early years occurs in the context of emotional supports.

Together, emotion and cognition contribute to attentional processes, decision making, and learning. Emotions and social behaviors affect the young child’s ability to persist in goal-oriented activity, to seek help when it is needed, and to participate in and benefit from relationships.

To help your little one gain an understanding of the various facial expressions that we may all, at one time, exhibit, we created a variety of different ones with play dough. Using a blank face as their template, your little one constructed different emotional states with their friends!