Outside School Hours Care

This term at Cobram AGS TheirCare, we are focusing on emotions and wellbeing, supporting children to recognise, understand and express their feelings in positive and healthy ways.

So far, we have explored what makes us feel happy and sad, helping children develop empathy, expand their emotional vocabulary and strengthen their sense of belonging. Over the coming weeks, we will focus on anger and fear, supporting children to better understand these big emotions — what can trigger them, how they may feel in the body, and safe and constructive ways to manage them.

Our activities include:

Playdough Faces: Children create facial expressions using playdough to represent different emotions. This activity supports emotional recognition, fine motor development and confidence in expressing feelings.

Clay and Stamping Activities: Sensory play that promotes calmness, focus and self-regulation, while also strengthening fine motor skills.

Emotional Regulation Strategies: Children practise techniques such as deep breathing, taking space, positive self-talk and problem-solving to help manage strong emotions respectfully.

Daily Emotions Check-in: We are working to introduce this routine, with children helping to draw the different emotions. On arrival, children identify how they are feeling, encouraging self-reflection and allowing educators to provide additional support where needed.

We are also using the film Inside Out to help children relate to different emotions in an engaging and familiar way. This has prompted meaningful discussions about how all emotions serve a purpose.

We look forward to continuing to support the development of children’s emotional awareness, resilience and positive relationships throughout the term.