Mood Bears used in real UK classrooms since 2020
Inclusive Emotional Literacy Small Group planning for Schools
Designed to be delivered in small groups from EYFS through to Y6, each termly topic begins with an assembly, followed by weekly 20-minute activities for small groups of 6–8 children. All resources are included.
Written by award-winning specialist SEMH teachers, this programme recognises the powerful impact support staff can have when they understand the science of how the brain and body work and can teach this to children. With years of experience working with senior leaders across hundreds of schools, they know that when support staff understand the thinking behind behaviour strategies, they are better able to scaffold learning, build independence, and respond to behaviour consistently and with understanding. The scripted approach supports the development of a shared, school-wide language for emotions and evidence-based strategies that are proven to work.
Children who can notice and name their feelings are far more able to regulate. They are better able to connect with themselves and others, build hope, and develop the resilience needed to aim high and make positive choices.
Designed to meet your inclusion and early intervention priorities, the small-group planning framework is written for any member of support staff to pick up and deliver. Professional learning is embedded throughout, with annotated and fully scripted sessions that build shared staff understanding as they teach.
The £124.99 school pack includes:
Mood Bears in Education pack (all 8 bears)
Small Groupwork Inclusive Curriculum Planning (EYFS to Y6) and resources (download)
Download comprises:
- Whole School Assemblies for each half termly focus.
- Character-led stories for each lesson
- Resources (differentiated feelings fans / feelings wheels / posters / KS2 word mats)
Coming soon: Whole School Planning will be available Autumn 2026.
Trusted by educators
"We love the fact that the Mood Bears in Education resources have been developed to a high standard by people who really understand the importance of emotional literacy and have experience teaching it. When children can recognise and name what they’re feeling, they’re far more able to regulate, communicate needs, and use the support on offer, which reduces behaviour as communication and prevents issues escalating into repeated sanctions or exclusion from learning. It also helps staff respond consistently and with understanding, because the school has a shared language for emotions and strategies, rather than relying on individual interpretation. Strong emotional literacy is the foundation of good SEND services, better relationships, and calmer classrooms where children are ready to learn."
Lucy Coy, BA (QTS) Hons NASENCOCo-Founder, HeadteacherChat
A sensory, tactile tool that meets CASEL, and Ofsted expectations
Mood Bears were designed to map onto the CASEL Framework - so embedding them into your existing personal development and wellbeing provision, takes minutes.
We have five clear pillars. So no need for new planning. Our pillars are:
- Notice (body awareness) → Self-Awareness
- Name (emotional vocabulary) → Self-Awareness
- Know (brain and body science) → Self-Awareness and Self-Management
- Connect (self, others, community) → Social Awareness and Relationship Skills
- Hope (Target setting) → Responsible Decision Making and Self-Management
Our sessions complement and support inclusive PSHE delivery across EYFS to Year 6.
What Schools Say
"Our children now have a language for their feelings. A child can say ‘I’m feeling like Nervous Bear right now’ and be completely understood."
"Staff find the sessions easy to run and genuinely engaging. As a leader, it's the first time our emotional wellbeing provision has finally felt joined up.”
Mrs J Davies, Cwmbach Community Primary School.
Mood Bears have been used in schools since 2020 across England and Wales.
Emotional literacy grounded in science - brought to life through physical bears children can see, hold and relate to.
Unlike screen-based programmes, Mood Bears puts something real in the classroom.
Children cannot regulate what they don’t notice. Before a child can manage a feeling, they need to name it in themselves and others. They need to know where it might have come from, and why their incredible body responds the way it does. They need to know how to connect with themselves and others, and set targets that provide hope and future success.
Support staff pre-teaching is built in and outcomes for children are based on rich emotional literacy and science
Example: Year 1/2, Summer 2, Week 3.
Story Title: Hope Bear Learns to Skate
Session leader pre-learning notes: Hope Bear's character is based on Snyder's Hope Theory. In this session, children learn that 'hope' is not wishful thinking - it is a skill. It involves target-setting, repeated effort and resilience, and the understanding that one step is often enough.
Lesson objective: Children learn that when they make a small step towards a goal, something interesting happens in the brain. They learn that their brain releases dopamine - a chemical linked to motivation and progress - and that dopamine is the way their amazing brain makes the next step towards their target easier.
The 20 Minute Session Structure
Every session follows the same five step format so children know what's coming, adults feel confident delivering it and so the learning accumulates:
1. The Story: tucked inside the Mood Bear’s pocket is story where a character-led, relatable scenario unfolds, building up until there’s a problem. It ends with a ‘Paws Pause’ to understand the issue.
2. Meet the Expert: The Mood Bear expert arrives and their job is to work alongside the children to gain an insight into the emotional world of the character in the story: What are the clues? What can they see? What happened before? How is the character feeling? What would you feel like?
3. Science: Understanding the Brain & Body: the Mood Bear expert explains what’s happening in the character’s brain and body, and why it happens.
4. Practise together: They learn short, age-appropriate achievable strategies and tools and are encouraged to implementing them between sessions in the classroom, playground, corridor or at home.
5. Reflect Together: The group makes a plan to be an 'expert' of emotions - supporting classroom peers, their school and community and report back their progress the following week.
