Throughout my years of parenting I have come to realize how incredibly important teaching feelings to your children is. They need to be able to recognize different feelings and know that even the not so fun ones (like anger, hurt, frustration) are ok to have. It’s how we deal with them that matters.

One of my go-to gifts for baby showers or early birthdays is a book called My Many Colored Days which talks about the many feelings your child may have and that it’s ok to feel those things. The book is beautiful, colorful, and engaging. The rhymes make it fun to read and easy to learn. And of course the message is what it’s all about for me.

On that note, I have recently come across another great resource that deals with teaching feelings to kids. It’s called LuvBugLearning.

Teaching Feelings to Kids with LuvBug Learning

LuvBug Learning is a social emotional learning app geared toward kids ages 5 and up. It combines gameplay with social emotional learning skills with concepts like empathy, self-esteem, behavior recognition and more.

{Disclaimer: I received free access to Luvbug Learning and was compensated for my time in writing this review.  All views are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Please see my full Disclosure Policy for more details.}

Why is LuvBug so important?

LuvBug Learning is not only beautiful (the graphics, colors, scenes), but it gently includes positive messages throughout the game play and videos, as well as specifically teaching skills like empathy and recognizing emotions in themselves and others.

One of the things I noticed was the little details. For instance, when you are waiting for games or villages to load, there are cute little musical numbers that play. No words, but fun jingles. My grandson noticed, and loved them. He wiggles and dances to them while he waits for the games to load!

There are also verbal cues and notes of confidence sprinkled throughout the game. For instance when your child opens the games in the app it greets them with little positive sayings like:

“Don’t forget to hug someone in your family today!” or “Don’t forget to tell your family that you love them!”

Teaching our children about feelings, their own and others, and about how to handle them is essential to their well-being. Kids with a strong sense of self, and self-esteem grow up to be emotionally strong, capable adults.

Parts of LuvBug Learning

1. Games

SO many game choices! There are currently 6 games (each one with an incredible amount of themed worlds to choose from) and 3 different villages with 6-10 more games and 7 more villages are being added in the coming months.

Each game begins with an interactive, animated tutorial, making it easy for kids to understand how to play the game. There is also an option to skip the game play tutorial if they are already comfortable with how to play.

Another thing I love is that the characters shoot “luv bombs” to spread the love and they are heart shaped! Everything within the games is so gentle and positive.

Throughout each game Learning Questions will pop up. (See more about these in number 4)

Kids get asked questions like, “How does your friend feel, when they get to play their favorite sport in gym class?” Once they have answered the question they get a fun speed round called EXTRAVAGANZA in the game they are playing.

2. Educational videos

Currently there are 10 videos, each around 3 minutes long. And for the next two years they will be adding about one video each week. 

Each video brings to light a different theme. They present a “problem” and then talk through the feelings related to the problem, and give suggestions of how to handle the problem. They are not preachy or bossy. The characters are sweet, sensitive, inquisitive youngsters, making them so relatable for young kids.

The current titles cover topics such as:

• bullying
• feeling alone
• The Golden Rule
• empathy
• our differences
• being polite
• and more!

3. Parent dashboard

You access the Luvbug Learning parent dashboard via a computer. It contains both tracking for what your children are doing and what concepts they are coming across in the games and videos. Beyond that it contains parental controls for the level your children use, the amount of time they can spend on the app each day, and even what videos they have access to.

4. Learning Questions

There are multiple levels within the LuvBug Learning app. The learning questions are based on what age your child is. The older the child, the more complex the questions and answers.

They pop up throughout the game play. A question is asked, and they are given multiple answers to choose from. Each answer has a question mark next to it where kids can click to have words explained to them.

Purchasing LuvBug Learning

The Luvbug Learning app is easily purchased online and ready to play immediately. Using the discount code LUVBUG5 you can get Luvbug Learning for just $5/month! The offer expires October 15th, 2022.