The programme supports children to build emotional resilience, providing a space to develop emotional awareness and understanding, and learn new strategies to overcome future challenges.
The peer group sessions are centred around play and discovery, with children learning a new skill or strategy each week which will help them to overcome future challenges. These are brought together in the final week in a folder which is shared with parents/carers during the final family session, encouraging them to practice, practice, practice until the skills are embedded in their everyday lives.
Sessions include:
Brain Power
Discover the amazing power of your brain, how it works when it’s stressed and how it can play tricks on you. Learn deep breathing techniques to take back control when emotions take over.
Our Senses
Learn about your senses – there are many more than the five we think we know! Practical exercises give insight into taste, smell, appearance and sound and practice using varied language to describe experiences. Learn a strategy which uses touch to centre thoughts in a calming and grounding way.
Understanding Feelings
Focusing in on the strong feelings we all have, this session develops an awareness of how we experience these feelings, encouraging discussion and using practical exercises to build understanding. Learn the skill of deep muscle relaxation.
Building Emotional Language
Building on the previous week’s session, children begin to develop their vocabulary to describe their feelings. We then look at empathy and what it means to really stand in someone else’s shoes. A positive affirmations script encourages children to consider their strengths.
Bouncing Back
Looking at resilience, children begin to examine areas of strength in their lives, from talents and interests to supportive networks. A guided imagery script is taken home to practice visualisation techniques.
Personal Strengths and Celebration
The final session pulls together strands from the whole group, developing a treasure box of personal strengths which can be used to encourage, motivate and calm. Food is shared as part of a celebration of everyone’s achievements.