Become a Feelings Detective
Feelings can be tricky to figure out, but you can learn to crack the case. Explore, play, and pick up real skills for handling whatever you feel.
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My Feelings Thermometer
Checking your "temperature" helps you notice a feeling before it gets too big. Tap the level that matches how you feel right now, and watch the thermometer.
The Feelings Detective
Every feeling leaves clues, in the body, in our thoughts, in what's happening. Read the evidence and crack the case. Climb the ranks, then keep your skills sharp in Practice Mode!
Level Up!
The Calm-Down Lab
Calm isn't something you just wait for, you can make it! Add an ingredient, do it for real, and watch your calm potion grow. Mix your own recipe.
The Worry Box
Got a worry buzzing around in your head? Sometimes it helps to get it out and put it somewhere safe. Name your worry, tuck it in the box, then decide what to do with it.
Totally private, nothing you type is ever saved or seenHow Are You Really?
Checking in with your feelings is a skill, and you can get great at it. Pick what you feel, notice how big it is, and remember, you can feel more than one thing at once.
Feelings Memory Match
Flip two cards to find a matching pair, each feeling face with its feeling word. Use your memory, and read every feeling as you go!
Featuring 20 feeling faces drawn by our own artist, Elizabeth.
You matched them all!
How Big Is My Feeling?
The same feeling can be teeny or HUGE, and knowing how big it is helps you know what to do. Pick a feeling, then show how big it feels right now.
The Calm-Down Toolbox
When a feeling gets big, your body needs help calming down before your thinking brain can work again. Here are your tools, pick one and try it along with the screen!
Supporting Your Child's Feelings
At this age, kids can talk about feelings, but they don't always want to. These tools give them a low-pressure way to practice, and give you a natural way in.
Direct questions ("How was your day?") often get a shrug at this age. Side-by-side beats face-to-face. Kids open up more while doing something together, driving, cooking, playing, than when put on the spot.
These tools are a great side door. Doing the Feelings Detective or Memory Match together gives you a natural, no-pressure way to talk about feelings without it being "a talk."
Validate first, even if the reason seems small. To a 9-year-old, a lost game or friend drama is a big deal. Feeling heard is what actually turns the intensity down.
You don't have to agree or fix, just show you get it.
Once they're calmer, then you can move to "Want to figure out what to do?", not before. A dysregulated brain can't problem-solve yet.
Practice the calming tools when things are calm, not only in a meltdown. A skill rehearsed on an easy day is one they can actually reach for on a hard one.
The Calm-Down Lab is perfect for this, do it together on a quiet afternoon so the "recipe" is familiar. Then in a tough moment you can say, "Want to try one of your calm-down ingredients?"
Both, in that order. Offer the door, then respect a "not now." Pushing usually makes a 7 to 11-year-old shut down harder. What works is being available and unhurried.
The Worry Box helps here, it lets a child get a worry out privately, even when they're not ready to say it to you yet. That's still a healthy step.
Ups and downs, worries, big feelings, and friendship struggles are a normal, healthy part of these years. Learning to handle them is exactly the work of this age.
It may be worth talking to your pediatrician or a children's counselor if you notice: a feeling that stays stuck (sad, angry, or anxious most days for weeks), a big change after a hard event, pulling away from friends or things they used to love, trouble with sleep or eating, or worries that are getting in the way of school or home life.
Reaching out early is a strength, not a last resort. Center for Child Counseling is here to help your family. If your child is ever in crisis or talking about hurting themselves, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
You're becoming a real feelings expert!
Every time you name a feeling, cool one down, or try a new tool, you're building a skill that will help you your whole life. Come back and practice anytime, your feelings are always welcome here.
For grown-ups: if your child is going through a hard time, or you'd like support, we're here to help families with exactly this.