Learn feelings words
Children move from mad, sad and glad to closer words like frustrated, disappointed and proud.
Helping kids name and understand their feelings.
Emotion Explorers is a small-group programme for Years 5 and 6, where children practise noticing feelings, naming them precisely and choosing a helpful next step.
Practise next steps
Once children know what they're feeling, they practise choosing one small, helpful thing to do next.
Build together with family
Families hear what the group has been working on, so the same feelings words can be used at home. There's no homework.
Meet the Emotion Explorers
Four made-up friends from the world of Emotion Explorers.
Tahlia
Tahlia is about 11, with curly hair that never quite stays tied back and round glasses that miss very little. She's usually the first to notice when something has changed, and she says so plainly. Her friends have learned it's worth listening when she does.
Hamish
Hamish is about 10, freckled, with a sun-touched nose and runners that are always a bit dusty. He's steady company, the friend who sticks around when a game goes wrong. When something he's been trying finally works, he can't quite hide how proud he is.
Anika
Anika is about 11 and wears her long black hair in a low ponytail, usually with a grey cardigan over the top. When something catches her interest, she leans in and asks one more question, then another. She'd rather understand a thing properly than just be told the answer.
Darcy
Darcy is about 10 and easy-going most of the time, the first to laugh and the last to make a fuss. When something he was really hoping for doesn't happen, though, it can hit him hard. He's still working out what to do with that, like most of us.
How sessions run
Welcome
Each session starts with a friendly welcome. Nobody has to share anything they'd rather keep private.
Explore an emotion
The group looks for a closer word for a feeling, like frustrated or furious instead of mad.
Try an activity
Children try short, hands-on activities together, using made-up characters and situations, never real stories.
Take-home tip
When your child says they're mad, ask whether it feels more like irritated, frustrated or disappointed. Each one points to a different next step.
About the facilitator
I'm Jakob Shanks. I'm a chaplain with a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) and a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) (Honours), and I hold a Working with Children card and an NDIS Worker Screening card. I write the Steady Session programmes, and I plan to train facilitators from after the first pilot.