Reading the Body: Helping Children Notice Their Own Signals

An adult who helps a young child become aware of a racing heart, heavy eyes, tense hands, hunger, thirst, discomfort, or the need for rest is helping the child listen to his body

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A child rubs her eyes but insists she is not tired. Another becomes irritable without realising he is hungry. A third suddenly cries during play but cannot explain that his tummy feels tight.

Long before children can clearly tell us what is happening inside them, their bodies are already communicating. Helping children notice these messages is an important part of Total Well-Being because it connects physical health, emotional awareness, self-regulation, and the confidence to ask for help.

Understanding Interoception

The ability to notice and interpret signals from inside the body is often called interoception. These signals include hunger, thirst, tiredness, pain, temperature, a racing heart, a full bladder, and muscle tension (Chen et al., 2021).

We constantly teach children about the world around them—colours, shapes, numbers, sounds, and words. Yet we may spend far less time helping them notice the world inside their own bodies.

This area has not always received the same attention as the more visible, commonly known five senses. Although scientists have studied internal bodily awareness for many years, interoception has more recently become a major field of research. A recent review of its use in paediatric occupational therapy also described the evidence base as still emerging and called for more research, particularly with children (Clark et al., 2025).

From Body Signals to Feelings

Body awareness and emotional awareness are closely connected. Before a child can say, “I am anxious,” they may first notice a fast heartbeat, shaky hands, or a fluttery tummy. Before they can say, “I need a break,” they may become irritable, restless, or tearful.

Adults can help by giving children simple language for both sensations and emotions. Instead of only saying, “You’re tired,” try: “You’re rubbing your eyes and yawning. I wonder if your body is trying to tell you that you need some rest.”

Or, when a child looks ill: “Your body feels feverish. What are you feeling inside?”

Teach children that a body signal can have different reasons. A tight tummy might mean worry, excitement, hunger, or illness. The goal is to build curiosity: What am I noticing? What might I be feeling? What might I need?

Teaching children to recognise and name feelings early gives them useful language to communicate their inner experiences. Recent research with preschoolers found that stronger emotion recognition and emotion vocabulary were associated with better emotion regulation (Zhu et al., 2026). Naming feelings does not make difficult emotions disappear, but it helps children understand and communicate them.

Why This Matters for Self-Regulation

We often tell young children to “calm down,” but calming down is not a single skill. Children first need help noticing what is happening in their bodies, putting words to the experience, and learning what response may help.

A 2023 study of 233 preschoolers tested a ten-week body-oriented programme involving movement, relaxation, and guided body-awareness activities. Children who participated showed improvements in self-regulation and relationship skills compared with the control group (Veiga et al., 2023).

Body awareness alone does not produce self-regulation. However, these findings support helping children notice their bodily states and connect them with emotions and actions.

Try This: The Body Detective Game

Turn body awareness into a short, playful activity. Tell your child, “Today we are going to be Body Detectives. Let’s see what clues our bodies are giving us.”

Invite your child to pause and notice:

Can you feel your heartbeat? Is it fast or slow?
What does your tummy feel like?
Are your muscles soft or tight?
Do your eyes feel wide awake or sleepy?
Are you warm, cool, hungry, or thirsty?
Is anywhere hurting or uncomfortable?

Then ask three simple questions:

1. What do you notice?

2. Why do you think you are feeling this way?

3. What do you think your body needs?

Perhaps the answer is water, food, rest, movement, a cuddle, a quiet minute, or help from an adult. There are no prizes for getting the “right” answer. The purpose is to practise noticing, naming, and communicating.

Parents can join in too: “My shoulders feel tight. Some stretching might help.” This shows children that listening to the body is a normal part of self-care.

A Simple Parent Tool: Name It, Place It, Meet It

When your child seems unsettled, try this three-step check before jumping straight to a solution:

Name it: “Your body looks tense. What does it feel like inside?”

Place it: “Where do you feel it — your tummy, your hands, your chest?”

Meet it: “What might help — a drink, a hug, a stretch, some food, rest, or a quiet minute?”

Young children will not always have an answer, and that is fine. The skill develops through repeated, gentle practice.

The Body Speaks Before Children Have the Words

Children cannot respond to signals they have not yet learned to notice. Long before self-regulation looks like calm words and thoughtful choices, it begins with something simpler: noticing what is happening inside and having a patient adult help make sense of it.

Each time we help children notice hunger, tiredness, pain, tension, comfort, and emotion, we strengthen body literacy and self-awareness. We also teach an early form of self-advocacy:

My body gives me information.

I can pay attention to it.

I can tell someone what I need.

That is a powerful lesson, and an important part of Total Well-Being.

References

Chen, W. G., Schloesser, D., Arensdorf, A. M., Simmons, J. M., Cui, C., Valentino, R., Gnadt, J. W., Nielsen, L., St Hillaire-Clarke, C., Spruance, V., Horowitz, T. S., Vallejo, Y. F., & Langevin, H. M. (2021). The emerging science of interoception: Sensing, integrating, interpreting, and regulating signals within the self. Trends in Neurosciences, 44(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.007

Clark, E., Brown, T., & Yu, M.-L. (2025). Interoception and its application to paediatric occupational therapy: A scoping review. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 72(1), e12997. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.12997

Veiga, G., Guerreiro, D., Marmeleira, J., Santos, G. D., & Pomar, C. (2023). OUT to IN: A body-oriented intervention program to promote preschoolers’ self-regulation and relationship skills in the outdoors. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1195305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1195305

Zhu, C., Ip, K. I., Liu, Z., & Yan, N. (2026). Labelling it makes you feel better: The role of affect labelling on emotion regulation among Chinese preschoolers. Child Development, 97(2), 451–464. https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacaf033