How can I help my 3.5 year old express emotions

[Tinkywinky85]

My 3.5 year old is very confident at home, happy to convey his likes and slides, have tantrums, even hit us (when hes annoyed) etc. However we have noticed that outside of home he lacks that confidence. At nursery (hes been there for 2.5years) hes playful and happy but can not stand up for himself when someone upsets him. Instead of telling the teacher, or even crying, he bottles it up and let's it out when he's home. I'm worried that he won't know how to defend himself/ express how he feels to others as he gets older

Any suggestions or advice on how to build confidence on expressing emotion outside of home?

Keep naming the feelings he is expressing, lots of story books about differnt feelings so he can discuss how the characters are feeling, before nursery if you feel sad/happy/angry what can you do /say at nursery ?

Colour monster is a really good book for this. I have been known to say ‘right, I’m getting a bit red now!’ At work 😂

@Moreroardinosaur and @Unexpectedlysinglemum thank you both for the advice! I'll try these out x