BOUNCE Approach®Play-BasedCPD CertifiedOn-DemandND-Affirming
Running a Play-Doh Feelings Session
A 50-minute training for school staff on how to run trauma-informed sessions using Play-Doh as a symbolic tool — giving children a non-verbal route to express and understand their emotions.
Some children don’t need more words — they need somewhere safe to put the feelings. The children who shut down, melt down, or disappear into themselves are often the ones traditional talking approaches can’t reach. Not because they don’t have feelings to share, but because the feelings are too big, too tangled, or too unsafe to say out loud. Giving them something to shape often does what asking “how are you feeling?” never can.
Grounded in Internal Family Systems, Polyvagal Theory, and neurodivergent-affirming practice, this training gives you the structure, scripts, and visual tools to run sessions confidently in 1:1 or small-group settings with children aged 5 to 18. No therapy qualification required.
Designed for teaching assistants, learning mentors, SEN staff, ELSAs, and pastoral leads — this approach is particularly effective for children who struggle to verbalise emotions, can’t access talking-based interventions, or need relational, non-verbal ways to process conflict or trauma.
Three bonus resources to deepen your practice.
A structured snapshot to identify where a child may be struggling on the inside while appearing fine on the outside — so you can see beneath the surface and respond to what is actually there.
Track entry to exit progress and evidence what has changed across the review period — giving you a clear picture of impact over time.
Understand the nervous system foundations behind regulation, emotional expression, and connection — so you can apply them with confidence in your sessions.