Mood Matters

How are you feeling?  This simple question served as the starting point for Mood Matters, a school-based system designed to help children aged 5 and above identify, understand, express, and manage their emotions. It grew from in-depth research, school visits, interviews with teachers and psychologists, and playful testing with children. The project aims to address a growing need: emotional intelligence isn't intentionally taught, but it's essential for mental health and lifelong wellbeing.

The system includes two main products.

The Mood Nook is an emotional learning corner inspired by the Mood Meter, a tool that maps our feelings based on how pleasant they are and how much energy they carry. Each 'room' on the shelf represents a group of emotions and offers materials that help children process them. This gives emotions a physical place in the classroom and allows kids to access the resources they need independently.

The second product is Feelinks Game, a conversational tool that complements the Mood Nook and creates a space for children and adults to share stories and strategies. The pieces represent core emotions in different ways, along with actions that can help shift from one emotional state to another.

Mood Matters invites children and adults to create small rituals of emotional connection. In a world that increasingly prioritizes screens over presence, it reminds us that emotions aren't problems to fix, but part of being human, and something we can learn to navigate together.