The big ideaEvery feeling is okay. Breathing, moving and telling someone help big ones.
How it works
Every feeling is okay, and what we do next matters.
A feeling is like a balloon. When we hold it in, it grows bigger and bigger.
Slow breaths and moving calm the body, and telling someone lets the rest of the air out.
What Kit does when he loses the race.
Example 1: Slow breaths
Breathe in slowly, as if you are smelling a sweet flower.
Breathe out through your mouth.
Do it again and again, nice and slow.
Slow breaths tell the body it is okay to calm down.
Example 2: Move your body
Kit runs round the yard, fast and then slow.
The wind blows through his fur.
Moving helps the big feeling out, and the balloon gets smaller.
🎈a big balloon🏃run🎈a smaller one
Moving lets air out.
Example 3: Tell someone
Kit goes to his grown-up and says out loud, "I am mad that I lost."
His grown-up says, "It is okay to feel mad. I have felt that way too."
Kit knows he is not alone, and the balloon is tiny.
Example 4: Squeeze a pillow
Squeeze a soft pillow, and let go.
Your body lets go with it.
It is a safe way to let a big feeling out.
Words to know
balloon
Something that grows when you fill it, like a held-in feeling.
calm
Quiet and settled inside.
helper
Something that helps a feeling get smaller.
tell
To say out loud how you feel.
Watch out
Slamming a door does not help. Try a slow breath.
Yelling at a friend does not help. Try telling them how you feel.
Hitting does not help. Move your body in a safe way.
Holding a big feeling in makes it bigger.
Try it
Is it okay to feel mad when you lose?
Name the three helpers for a big feeling.
What happens to a feeling you hold in?
Rex slams the door when he loses. What could he do instead?
Answers: 1. yes · 2. slow breaths, moving your body and telling someone · 3. it grows bigger · 4. take a slow breath
Try at homeNext time a feeling gets big, try one helper: slow breaths, moving your body, or telling someone. Then tell a grown-up which one worked.
For grown-upsPractice the flower breath together when everyone is calm, so it feels familiar when a big feeling comes. When you have had the same feeling yourself, say so, as Kit's grown-up did.
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