Contributed by Sharon Boh

Children learn about love at birth. They learn to recognize familiar faces and can read emotions as young as four months. This is an important developmental skill for children we call attachment. Researchers recognize attachment as the first important step in developing positive social emotional skills in young children. Toddlers show love in different ways, they can be cuddly and loving one moment and melting into tantrums the next, both are signs of love from your toddler. A preschooler will draw you pictures, pick you a flower and want to spend time with you. How do you help your child love themselves and others? Develop activities that help them appreciate themselves and others, develop a sense of fairness and experiences that teach them to stand up for themselves and others. “Somebody Loves Me” from Songs of Belonging is a song I have used in the classroom to help build attachment in my students.

This experiential song builds the within child protective factor of attachment in the following ways:

•       Show affection for familiar adults

•       Act happy or excited when parents/guardian returns

In my classroom we have created a class book based on the song. Students were invited to create two very special pages. One page contains words to the song Somebody Loves Me with individual child’s name filled in the blanks; the other page contains a scrapbook page with items the child loves, favorite foods, colors, activities and photos. We keep this class book in our class library and send home with families to share.