Kimochis review - toys with feelings inside

As a mother I know that often our children struggle to communicate what they want or need. They can struggle with knowing ways to share their feelings and can find it difficult to express how they are feeling to parents, friends and even teachers at school. Kimochis is a company that has developed toys that help children, in a playful way, learn to communicate and express their feelings in a more effective manner.

Kimochis' (means 'feelings' in Japanese) are small soft pillows that come with cute characters such as: Cloud, Huggtopus, Cat and Bella Rose. Each Kimochis pillow has a facial expression that represents a feeling on one side and on the other, the name of that feeling. These feelings range from angry and sad, to happy and loved. There are 24 different pillows available.

The larger toy characters have feelings just like children do. Each character has a special pouch in front into which "feelings" or smaller pillows are placed. Using the character and the Kimochis pillows, children can get in touch with their emotions or feelings in a fun and comfortable way through puppetry and play. When children can communicate how they feel effectively they will develop strong social skills, increase in self esteem and confidence and find it easier to build lasting friendships in life.

We had the wonderful opportunity to review some Kimochis products and I have to say I am really impressed with this idea and concept. Let me introduce you to a new member of our family, Cloud. He is a bit moody and unpredictable, just like the weather and maybe even a little just like me! When he is happy he spreads sunshine but when you turn his head his sad face signals that thunder is on it's way. Actually, I think he is totally like me!

We also received a story book of 'Cloud's best worst Day Ever'. The story books are to help children understand a little more about feelings and to connect with the character they will be learning with. As I read through the story with my children they could easily see how Cloud is like them, learning and discovering how he really feels and with ways to express himself. They could see that it is normal to have a hard time controlling your emotions and that friends will still care for you if you just try your best to not be hurtful to others.

When you purchase a Kimochis character it comes in its own box with three pillow feelings, which are different for each character, and a detailed Feel Guide, which is an instructional booklet. The booklet is full of fun, easy lessons and activities to try with your children. We have had a great time in our family trying some of these activities out.

I don't know about you but I am forever telling my children to use their words, to communicate with me so I can understand how they are feeling. With Kimochis pillows children are better able to use words to express how they feel. We were sent some extra pillows to play with and even a blank one you can use to write down a word your children and family may be familiar with. I love that they are bright in colour and just the right size for little hands. I also totally love the facial expressions on each pillow.

As a family our favourite Kimochis game is 'Kimochis Charade', where you pick a feeling and act it out. My favourite was Sam acting out Shy. He does not look shy at all! We had a great time and discovered it is hard to act out the word mad when you are laughing so much!

Kimochis here in Australia are already supporting many social and learning programs for 3-9 year olds in over 150 schools and kindergartens and hospitals. As an approved product on the rebate list of the Helping Children with Autism Government support package they have wonderful advocates for their products. They even have an Educators Tool Kit available to use for educators.

I would recommend Kimochis for every family to help children learn to express themselves. I cannot comment on if it would help families who have children with learning difficulties as we do not have that situation in our home. All I can say is that I know it is used by many speech pathologists and educators to help children who do have learning difficulties and as a mother I believe it would be a worthwhile purchase. You can view all the awards they have received here.

Since reviewing this product our family has been talking about 'feelings' at lot more and I have noticed my children have become more aware of how their actions may hurt others. I have been hearing more comments of, 'that hurts my feelings' for example. I love that it has helped us become more mindful.

What about you: How do you teach your children about 'feelings' in your home? 

Do they struggle to share how they feel?

Cloud retails at $49.95 and the mixed feeling pack retails at $19.95

The Kimochis books are available for $24.95

You can also find Kimochis on Facebook and Twitter

P.S - I have to give thanks to Kimochis as now all I have to do as a mother is hold up that cute little pillow that has the words Mad on it and my children scatter in one second. Haha!