Stay Calm

08/06/2026

I’ll be exhibiting at the Kent Wellness Festival on 13th–14th June 2026 at Detling Showground, Maidstone.

If you're attending, I'd love for you to come and find me and say hello! 💜

I'll be showcasing my children's wellbeing books, sharing information about my wellbeing workshops for schools, families, and the home education community, and talking about the range of support I offer to help children and young people build confidence, resilience, and emotional wellbeing.

I'll also be sharing details of my accredited Magical Garden Practitioner Training. This training equips professionals to take the Magical Garden technique into schools and the wider community, giving them a powerful and creative tool to support children's emotional wellbeing. It is also a wonderful resource for therapists, counsellors, wellbeing practitioners, and anyone working directly with children and young people.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, home educator, therapist, counsellor, wellbeing professional, or simply passionate about supporting children, please stop by for a chat.

I look forward to meeting you, sharing my work, and exploring how together we can help children and teenagers flourish. 🌱✨

05/06/2026

One of the things I've noticed when children experience regular mindfulness sessions is how quickly they begin to settle into the routine and feel safe within the structure.

The moment we sit together in a circle, they know what to expect. It becomes a familiar and comforting start to our time together. The sessions follow a consistent format, helping children feel secure and confident as they know what's coming next.

What I love most is watching how quickly they engage. They happily step into a magical journey, using their imagination to explore, create and connect. Along the way, they have opportunities to share their thoughts, make choices, take turns and really listen to one another.

Over time, something beautiful happens. Children begin to open up. Their confidence grows. Quieter children find their voice. They become more comfortable expressing themselves and respecting the views of others.

Many children tell me they look forward to these sessions. In a world that often feels busy and demanding, mindfulness gives them permission to slow down, be creative, use their imagination and simply be themselves.

Regular mindfulness practice is about so much more than teaching children to sit quietly. It helps build confidence, communication skills, emotional awareness, listening skills and a sense of belonging within the group.

When mindfulness becomes a regular part of school life, children don't just learn mindfulness—they begin to live it.

04/06/2026

🌸 The Friendship Flower 🌸

Yesterday I had the pleasure of running The Friendship Flower mindfulness session with a Reception class, and the children were amazing.

We began by sitting together in a circle and taking a few gentle breaths to help us settle, feel grounded and connect as a group.

I then shared the magical story of The Friendship Flower and explained that the flower needed help to grow.
I invited the first child to choose a petal and share what they thought makes a good friend. Once they had shared their idea, I wrote it onto the petal and they carefully placed it onto the flower.

What happened next was lovely.
Rather than me choosing who would go next, each child was invited to choose the next child to have a turn. This continued around the circle until every child had contributed their own friendship petal.

The children embraced the activity beautifully. They listened patiently while each child shared their idea and waited respectfully for their turn. There was a wonderful sense of calm, kindness and connection throughout the session.

Their ideas included:
💜 Sharing with our friends
🩵 Caring about our friends
💜 Helping your friend
🩵 Including others
💜 Being helpful
🩵 Being nice to friends
💜 Inviting people to play
🩵 Playing nicely together
💜 Never leaving someone out

As each petal was added, the Friendship Flower slowly began to grow until every child had contributed and together they had created something beautiful.

What I loved most was that these weren't adult ideas about friendship, they were the children's own words, thoughts and understanding of what it means to be a good friend.

The finished flower became a wonderful visual reminder that every child matters, every voice matters and every act of kindness helps our classroom community grow stronger.
Afterwards, the children enjoyed completing their Friendship Flower colouring pages before returning to class.
#
A simple activity, a magical story, a mindful moment and a beautiful opportunity for children to reflect on friendship, kindness and belonging.

🌸 Every petal matters.
🌸 Every child matters.
🌸 Every act of kindness helps the Friendship Flower bloom.

If you’d like to try this resource with Key Stage 1, then go to my website and visit the store.
You will find a selection of fun, Magical mindfulness resources and for a limited time they are completely free.

04/06/2026

I highly recommend listening to this fascinating podcast with Dr Chris Bagley, an Educational Psychologist who challenges us to rethink how we support children in education.

In "Blaming Children's Brains for the Failings of the School System", Chris explores whether we are too quick to label and diagnose children, rather than looking at the systems around them. It's a thought-provoking conversation that raises important questions about education, wellbeing, and what our children really need to thrive.

If you care about children's mental health, emotional wellbeing, and creating environments where young people can flourish, this is well worth a listen.

Dr Chris Bagley is an educational psychologist who thinks that our children deserve something better.

03/06/2026

A Simple Anxiety Tool That Made a Big Difference

One of the teenagers I have been working with recently discovered a simple technique that has been incredibly effective in helping her manage anxious moments, slowly sipping cold water.

When her anxiety began to rise, she would notice the familiar signs: racing thoughts, a faster heartbeat, and a feeling of overwhelm. Instead of trying to push the feelings away, she started reaching for a bottle of cold water and taking slow, mindful sips until the anxiety began to settle.

This works because anxiety is not just experienced in the mind; it is also experienced in the body. Sipping cold water provides sensory input that helps bring attention back to the present moment. The cool sensation can stimulate the vagus nerve, helping to calm the nervous system and reduce the body's stress response.

What she particularly liked was that it was discreet and easy to use at school. She didn't need any special equipment or a quiet space, just a bottle of cold water. By focusing on each sip, the sensation of the cold water, and her breathing, she found that the intensity of her anxiety gradually reduced, allowing her to feel more grounded and able to continue with her day.

Sometimes the most effective strategies are the simplest. Giving young people practical tools like this can help them feel empowered, knowing they have ways to support themselves when anxiety shows up.

02/06/2026

I have just created a new resource for Key Stage 1

The Friendship Flower is a magical mindfulness and wellbeing activity for Key Stage 1 children that explores friendship, kindness and belonging. Through storytelling, discussion and a collaborative flower-making activity, children discover what it means to be a good friend while building confidence, connection and emotional awareness. Ideal for classrooms, wellbeing sessions and nurture groups, this ready-to-use resource includes a lesson plan, facilitator script and mindfulness reflection activity.

Included:

Detailed lesson plan

Facilitator script

Mindfulness reflection activity

Friendship Flower template and activity guidance

Ideas for classroom displays and follow-up activities

Suitable for: Key Stage 1

FREE for a limited time

To download this activity please go to https://www.stay-calm.co.uk/new-products/the-friendship-flower

01/06/2026

I'd love to meet you at the The Kent Wellness Festival and share the exciting ways we're supporting children's emotional wellbeing.

Come and discover my award-winning books, My Magical Garden and My Magical Tree – unique resources that use imagination, creativity and mindfulness to help children explore feelings, build confidence, develop emotional awareness and find calm.

I'll also be sharing information about the wellbeing workshops I deliver in schools, community groups and wellbeing settings. These engaging sessions help children connect with themselves, understand their emotions and develop lifelong wellbeing skills.

✨ For Parents
Learn how these books and activities can support your child's emotional wellbeing and confidence.

✨ For Schools
Find out how the workshops can enhance wellbeing provision, nurture groups, mental health initiatives and whole-school wellbeing programmes.

✨ For Therapists and Practitioners
Discover how these resources can complement your work with children and families.

✨ NEW Practitioner Training
I'm delighted to now offer accredited practitioner training, enabling professionals to deliver My Magical Garden and My Magical Tree workshops within schools, community groups or one-to-one settings. If you're passionate about supporting children's wellbeing and would like to add a powerful new tool to your practice, come and find out more.

Whether you're a parent, teacher, therapist, wellbeing practitioner or simply curious about supporting children's emotional health, I'd love to chat.

Come and say hello, ask questions, browse the books and learn how together we can help children grow in confidence, resilience and wellbeing.

I look forward to meeting you there! 💚

29/05/2026

In a world where children's lives are becoming increasingly structured, scheduled, and influenced by technology, imagination is more important than ever.

There was a time when children spent hours creating magical worlds, building dens, climbing trees, and inventing adventures.

Today, many children have less freedom, more rules, and fewer opportunities to simply let their imagination lead the way.

This is one of the reasons we created My Magical Tree.

Unlike traditional storybooks, My Magical Tree invites children to make choices throughout their journey. They decide what their magical tree looks like, who lives there, what treasures they discover, and where their imagination takes them. These choices are more than just fun, they give children something incredibly valuable: a sense of control.

When children are able to choose, they feel empowered. They learn that their thoughts, ideas, and feelings matter. This can be especially important in a world where so many decisions are made for them.

Imagination is not just about escaping reality. It helps children process emotions, solve problems, build confidence, develop creativity, and explore who they are in a safe and supportive way.

Another unique feature of My Magical Tree is the guidance section at the back of the book. The choices children make throughout their journey can sometimes offer adults a gentle insight into how a child may be feeling and what emotional needs they might have. These translations are not intended as diagnoses or definitive interpretations, simply suggestions and starting points for meaningful conversations.

Every child is unique, and the magic lies in allowing them the freedom to create their own world, their own story, and their own path.

Sometimes, all a child needs is a little space to imagine.

🌳✨ What might your child's magical tree reveal?

28/05/2026

I’ll be exhibiting at the Kent Wellness Festival on June 13th & 14th.

If you’re visiting the festival, please come and say hello — I’d love to meet you.

I’ll be sharing and selling my wellbeing books, talking about my summer workshops for children and teens, and chatting about the work I do supporting emotional wellbeing in schools, within the home ed community, and with families across Kent and beyond.

I’ll also be sharing more about:
🔵 School wellbeing workshops and mindfulness resources
🔵 Support for children, teens and families
🔵 Workshops for the home education community
🔵 Creative wellbeing tools for schools and groups
🔵 My work with adults with special needs

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, home educating family, SEN support worker, therapist, or simply passionate about wellbeing, please pop by for a chat.

It’s going to be a great weekend filled with inspiration, connection and lots of amazing wellbeing exhibitors.

Hope to see you there!

21/05/2026

I’ve been creating lots of magical mindfulness resources for children recently, helping mindfulness feel playful, calming, creative and accessible for all children ✨

This week I tried out my newest resource for the very first time with two groups of children — The Star Rocket Mission 🚀⭐

The children began by cutting out their stars and colouring them in before we all sat together in a circle ready for our special mission.

As I read the story, the children became calm little astronauts travelling through space to help return the missing stars to the sky. At different points in the story they practised mindfulness through breathing, stillness, listening and slow movement.

One by one, each child carefully collected a star from the middle of the circle and then chose the next child to take a turn until everybody had a star.

What was so lovely to witness was the calmness throughout the whole session.
There was:
⭐ patience
⭐ kindness
⭐ turn-taking
⭐ no shouting out
⭐ gentle encouragement
⭐ beautiful listening

The children were completely engaged in the magic of the story and mindfulness became something natural, joyful and meaningful.

At the end of the session the children coloured in their rockets to take home 🚀

I absolutely love teaching mindfulness this way. Through imagination and storytelling, children connect so beautifully with the activities and it becomes accessible to everyone, including children with SEN.

Mindfulness does not always have to look like sitting silently. Sometimes it looks like magical space missions, glowing stars, calm breaths and children shining together

If you’d like to try any of my resources go to https://www.stay-calm.co.uk/new-products

At the moment most of the resources are free for a limited time