headssup community interest company
London
How many emotions can you name? How many do you think your children can name?
Research suggests we learn around 6 emotion words when we are young to help
express how we feel, then we stop! We don't learn anymore - even when we're
teens or adults! We try to navigate life's ups and downs using approximately 6
words! No wonder we can feel a bit mixed up sometimes! Research also suggests
that we are all born with the same set of emotions (primary emotions) and we
learn others (secondary emotions) as we grow from the age of 2 or 3. These
secondary emotions are learnt from our experiences, where we are from and from
our caregivers. So after a number of years research, Headssup was set up in 2019
to do 2 things: 1. increase the emotional vocabulary of children from 6 words to
15 words & 2. to do that within a psychological framework that included primary
and secondary emotions How did we do that? 1. We created a character called Emi
(short for emotional intelligence). 2. Emi became a teddy (see left hand page).
A soft, fluffy conversation starter or comforter. 3. We then created a
children's book to help Emi explain what primary and secondary emotions are in a
child friendly way. Helping our little ones to learn up to 15 words to help
explain how they feel that are all psychologically framed - helping make more
sense of how they and others feel. 4. Next we thought it would be nice to have
Emi animated. So we created 2 minute animations to go with each story that you
can log in to (see a short clip of one below). 5. But we didn't stop there.
Communicating our emotions can be hard. And our emotions can be effected by our
physical and social health. So Emi also helps children learn how to communicate
their emotions in the next story ELASTIC and what they can do each day to stay
physically healthy in the story HEALTHY ME and finally, how to stay socially
healthy in the story BLOOM AND BLOSSOM. 6. ELASTIC, HEALTHY ME AND BLOOM AND
BLOSSOM story books also come with a link to their own 2 minute animation. 7.
Finally, for our cooler 9-11 year olds, we created a character called Feelix and
his team. Feelix has 6 story books and animations and includes help with high
school transitions and healthy friendships. 8. And for those over the age of 11
there is Wellmeing - see the link to Wellmeing near the bottom of this site.
