Emotion Explorers for parents and carers

Happy, sad, mad and scared are fine words to start with. Most of us use them. Emotion Explorers helps children find a closer word when one fits. Frustrated isn't the same as furious, and glad isn't the same as proud. A closer word often makes a feeling easier to understand, and that makes the next step easier to choose.

Who it's for

Emotion Explorers is for students in Years 5 and 6, roughly ages 10 to 12, in groups of about five. The school decides who joins a group. It isn't a behaviour group and isn't presented as one. Families receive an introduction and consent form before their child joins.

What children practise

Children practise three things: noticing how a feeling shows up, naming it more precisely, and choosing a helpful next step that suits it.

What a session feels like

• Each session starts with a friendly welcome. Nobody has to share anything they'd rather keep private.
• The group looks for a closer word for a feeling, like frustrated or furious instead of mad.
• Children try short, hands-on activities together, using made-up characters and situations, never real stories.

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.

Week by week

A short note for each week: what the group looked at, a feeling word or two, and a question you could ask at home.

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9
• Week 10

Something to try at home

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.

Privacy and safety

• No child has to tell the group anything private.
• Any role-play uses made-up stories, never family stories or stories about trauma.
• Any child can step out of an activity and watch instead, with no fuss.
• Each group runs inside the school, under the school's child-safety and student protection procedures. See Safeguarding.

What it isn't

Emotion Explorers is skill teaching. It isn't a behaviour group, and it doesn't replace professional support, your GP or your school's wellbeing staff. It works alongside a school's existing wellbeing and pastoral care.

If you are worried about a child's safety right now, call 000. Other support: Lifeline 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, 13YARN 13 92 76, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636. This isn't a replacement for a GP or your school's wellbeing staff.

Emotion Explorers is currently a pilot programme, and during this first pilot I facilitate every session myself.

Questions? Use the contact form. Please don't include your child's name.