Welcome to the wonderful world of The Emps. Where emotions come to life…
Practitioners
Tools for your caseload and access to an Educational Psychologist to think it through with.
For ELSAs, teaching assistants, therapists, counsellors, Educational Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists.
You may already be using some of the Emps and this section is all about the resources and support you need to use them well out there in the wild: the cards, the wheels, and the Emp Detective Agency structures for anger, anxiety and emotional literacy.
And from this term, reflective practice and supervision groups with an Educational Psychologist because a lot of people doing this work are doing it without anyone to take it to for support.
Shop The Emp Premium Collection: Practical Resources.
The resources that that bring The Emps to life.
Plushie and Crochet Emps, card decks, classroom sticker sets and printed resources, the physical versions of what's on the site.
We know a child can't hold an abstract emotion, but now they can hold The Emps, and that is more powerful than it sounds.
These make an excellent addition to any calm corner, SEND room or ELSA/LM toolkit.
Supervision and Group Programs
Supervision only:
Six sessions across the year, small group, online. For practitioners already doing this work who need supervision and nothing else.
The Practitioner Programme:
Everything above, plus the three Emp Detective programmes emotional literacy, anger and anxiety and the training to deliver them.
This is for practitioners who want a structure to run, plans and resources.
Details and sign up form below.
What is supervision:
For those who haven’t heard it before the word supervision can be unhelpful. It sounds like being watched, or checked up on. It's neither.
Supervision is a regular protected 90 minutes where you bring the work/cases/ children that are on your mind: the child you're getting nowhere with, the session that went wrong, the puzzle you are wrangling with and think it through with an Educational Psychologist.
It's routine in psychology, therapy and social work, because the work is emotionally demanding and we can’t do it well alone. It's much rarer in schools, which is strange, given that school staff are doing the same type of work with less support around them.
What actually happens in a session:
Someone brings a child, or a situation. We think about it together, what might be going on underneath it, what's been tried, what else there might be. Other people in the group join in, and usually recognise something from their own week. You leave with something to try, and with the particular relief and reassurance that the thing you've been carrying isn't unusual.
The space in confidential and non judgmental.
What it isn't:
It isn't performance management, and nothing goes back to your employer. It also isn't therapy, though it's often a relief and hugely supportive.
Supervision
Supervision groups
Six 90-minute sessions across the year, small groups, online, with an Educational Psychologist.
Time to explore The Emps, how to use them to support schools, individual children and groups.
Price: £100 per year
First groups starting October. Tuesdays @ 3:30-5pm.
Sign up form below ⬇️
The Practitioner Programme
Access to all three Emp Detective Emotional Literacy Programs for one year (with more being released later in the year on Friendship and Learning). Designed by an Educational Psychologist. Complete with stories, resources and lesson plans.
Initial Online Training session delivered by an Educational Psychologist.
PLUS 90 minute online EP small group supervision six times a year.
Price: £200
Training and supervision sessions will be run on Tuesdays with the first group starting on Tuesday 29th Sept.
Spaces limited.
Sign up form below ⬇️
The Emp Detective Agency Emotional Literacy Foundation Program
Seven structured sessions that give identified children the time and space to build the core building blocks of emotional literacy: noticing, naming, sizing, regulating, and asking for help.
This is the entry point into the Emp Detective Agency, and it is deliberately deeper with more time spent on developing key emotional literacy skills than the whole-school programme.
Children become Emp Detectives with their own kit, a magnifying glass, a notebook, and a growing set of tools. Across the sessions they learn to spot which Emp is visiting, notice the clues their body is giving them, measure how big a feeling has grown, try out different regulation strategies, and identify the trusted adults who can help.
Best delivered weekly over a half term/term as a small group of 4–8 or one-to-one. Suitable for children from Year 2 through Year 6, adjusted for age.
Ideal for children whose emotional literacy needs a little more scaffolding than a whole-class approach can offer.
Delivered by a familiar school adult under the supervision of an EMP Practitioner or Educational Psychologist.
The Flaregrump Files
A deeper, more targeted programme for children who often have Flaregrump the Emp of anger visit.
The Flaregrump Files are for children whose Flaregrump is getting in the way of their learning, their friendships, or how they feel about themselves.
Flaregrump rarely arrives out of nowhere. He grows.
The Files help children get much better at spotting the very early clues before Flaregrump gets big, understanding what he is really trying to protect underneath, learning what helps Flaregrump to feel calmer, and knowing what to do ( including how to repair) when Flaregrump has already become very big.
Structured in the same Emp Detective format as the Emotional Literacy Programme.
Delivered one-to-one or in a small group, by a familiar school adult under the supervision of an Emp Educational Psychologist.
Usually completion of the Emotional Literacy Programme is recommended first.
The Fraggle Files
A deeper, more targeted programme for children who often have Fraggle visit (The Emp of Anxiety).
The Fraggle Files are for children whose anxiety is loud enough inside that it is starting to get in the way. For example: the child with the tight tummy on a Monday morning, the wobbly voice when it's time to read out, the one who watches from the edge of the playground.
These are children who need more than the whole-school programme, and more than the general Emotional Literacy Programme, can offer.
The Files help children get much better at noticing Fraggle early, understanding what Fraggle is trying to tell them, and building the courage to try things anyway, one small, brave step at a time.
The program includes work on body cues, worry loops, gradual bravery, and the important difference between helpful worry (that keeps us safe) and unhelpful worry (that keeps us stuck).
Structured in the same Emp Detective format.
Delivered one-to-one or in a small group, by a familiar school adult under the supervision of an Emp Educational Psychologist.
Completion of the Emotional Literacy Programme is recommended first.
Sign up for Supervision or The Practitioner Programme
Coming soon!
The Emp Wheel Web App
For exploring emotions with children whether that is helping them find the words or teaching them new emotions.
The App works on any devise (laptop, computer, tablet or phone). Stored to your browser so it will work offline.
How it works
Your Emps wait around the edge. The Emps you've chosen sit in a circle around the outside of the wheel, always visible. Children drag the ones they want inwards. No list to remember, if they can see it, they can use it.
Choose which Emps appear. Tap Choose Emps and tick the ones for your class, group or child. Three emotions for the littlest ones, or all thirty-one. Your choice.
Fill the wheel in one tap. Fill the wheel places every chosen Emp at once: good for when you want to go straight to spinning with a whole class.
Spin the arrow. Tap Spin, or grab the arrow and flick it; a proper flick sends it whizzing. Wherever it stops is the Emp you talk about. Or a child can move the arrow to the one they've picked themselves, which is often the more interesting moment.
Move or remove. Drag a placed Emp somewhere else, or drag it off to send it back to the edge. Start again clears the wheel.
Not sure which is right for you?
Email me: one line about what you're doing at the
moment is enough, and I'll tell you my suggestions.
Free Resources for Schools
Working in a School?
The Schools Guide covers how the Emps work across a whole primary. Very useful if you're the person being asked to make it happen.
Crafting with The Emps
Crafting with The Emps is a simple and creative way to help children explore and talk about emotions.
When children create their own Emp, they are not just making a craft. They are bringing an emotion to life.
Through colour, shape, and personality, children can begin to recognise what emotions feel like and when they appear. A fluffy yellow Emp might represent worry. A spiky orange Emp might represent anger. A rainbow Emp might represent joy.
Creating an Emp gives children a playful and safe way to talk about emotions that can sometimes be hard to explain.
Discover a wide range of psychologically informed resources, including emotion wheels, posters, and cards, designed to support children’s emotional literacy and understanding.
Created for parents, teachers, and professionals, these tools are grounded in psychology and made to be used in real, everyday moments. They help children recognise, name, and understand their emotions, while offering practical ways to support emotional wellbeing at home, in school, and beyond.
Thoughtfully designed to build confidence and emotional awareness, these resources support adults to guide children through feelings with clarity, connection, and care.
Find Emp specific resources, such as e-books, support strategies files and Zines to download and keep to support the understanding of specific Emps and emotions.
Great for supporting when individual emotions show up in your child
Discover The Emp Detective Agency: A playful, psychology-informed approach to helping children build emotional literacy in meaningful and memorable ways.
Help children become Emp Detectives, curious investigators of their own thoughts, feelings, and reactions.
On this page you’ll find ready-to-use resources designed for 1:1 work, small groups, or whole-class sessions.
Because when children learn to investigate their emotions, they begin to feel more confident, capable, and in control.
Explore the Emp Translator Cards
From behaviour to need, at a glance for busy parents.
Support for real moments.
Big emotions don’t come with instructions.
The Emp Translator Cards help you quickly understand what is really going on beneath the behavior, and what to do next.
Created by Dr Nat, Educational Psychologist, these psychology-informed, practical cards give you simple, in-the-moment guidance when emotions run high.
Clear. Calm. Ready to use.
Crafting with The Emps
Crafting with The Emps is a simple and creative way to help children explore and talk about emotions.
When children create their own Emp, they are not just making a craft. They are bringing an emotion to life.
Through colour, shape, and personality, children can begin to recognise what emotions feel like and when they appear. A fluffy yellow Emp might represent worry. A spiky orange Emp might represent anger. A rainbow Emp might represent joy.
Creating an Emp gives children a playful and safe way to talk about emotions that can sometimes be hard to explain.
Follow the adventures of The Emps across our socials
