The paper presents a description of the methodological approach for assessing the formation of the emotional sphere of children aged 5-16 years with typical and atypical development. The purpose of the Child's Emotional Development Method (CEDM) is to assess the emotional development of the children by determining the ability to express their own emotions, emotions adequacy, and recognition of the emotional states of others. The approach is based on adapted methods and scales, assessment criteria and methodological approaches tested in a number of studies, depending on the age of the children, their developmental characteristics, language and cultural characteristics of the country of residence of the child. The approach includes two blocks - information about the development of the child obtaining from parents / legal representatives; methods for children testing, including interview methods, psychological tests, play situations. The assessment uses a score on the Likert scale. A pilot approbation of the methodological approach was carried out on 30 children aged 8-16 years - typically developing (TD), with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and Down syndrome (DS). The results of the study formed the basis for the creation of the Scale of Emotional Sphere Development of Children and Adolescents.