After reading this article, you will:
- Discover the emotions pack, "The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket," designed to help children understand and regulate their emotions.
- Explore the exciting picture book that takes children on a thrilling journey through emotions and space.
- Learn about the Charging Challenges; a collection of over 100 fun and motivating activities that provide children with tools for emotional regulation.
- Understand the importance of meeting internal needs and how it impacts a child’s emotional well-being.
A Neuroaffirming Approach to Emotional Development
Emotions are a natural and important part of every child’s experience. Supporting children to recognise, understand, and respond to their emotions in a way that honours their individual neurotype is key to developing lifelong emotional well-being.
Ready Rocket Resources has created The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket, a neuroaffirming and engaging emotions pack that supports both bottom-up (body-based) and top-down (thinking-based) processing of emotions. This thoughtfully designed resource includes a picture book, a strategy activity book, and an optional Activity Tracker (at the back of Book 1).
Meet the Galaxy and the Ready Regulators
At the core of this resource is the picture book, The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket, which invites children to explore emotions through metaphor and play. Children are introduced to the Ready Regulators—Robbie, Remi, Ruby, and Richie—who guide them through a galaxy filled with planets that represent different emotional states.
Each planet introduces:
- Names of the emotion felt there
- Real-world, relatable situations that might lead to feelings
- What children might do or say when experiencing it
This approach encourages both:
- Top-down processing (using language and thought to understand emotions)
- Bottom-up processing (recognising physical sensations and patterns of emotional response)
For example:
- Planet Crash might describe times when children feel overwhelmed and shut down.
- Planet Fizz explores high-energy emotions, like excitement or restlessness.
- Planet Sigh helps children name sadness, or when feeling relaxed or peaceful.
- Planet Zing brings joy and curiousity into view, but normalises that we don't spend all of our time here!
- The Deep Void is a place in the galaxy where rockets move to with uncomfortable feelings
At the centre of the galaxy is Planet Zonk - a foundational planet representing internal needs like hunger, tiredness, needing to use the toilet, connection, and sensory comfort. This planet teaches children that we can't regulate until we feel safe and supported inside. It’s a powerful concept for children of all neurotypes, but particularly validating for neurodivergent learners who may experience interoception or sensory needs differently.
Children are not told how to feel or behave; rather, they are guided to notice, name, and explore their experience in a safe, non-judgemental way. The design of the galaxy helps children understand that emotions are not linear - we might move between planets many times a day, and that’s completely okay.
Charging Challenges: Practical Regulation That Respects Neurodiversity
Alongside the picture book is The Charging Challenges - a collection of over 100 affirming, child-friendly strategies designed to help children build their regulation toolkit.
These strategies are grouped into:
- Co-regulation alongside a trusted adult
- Meeting Internal Needs
- Moving out of feelings of shame, guilt and embarrassment, alongside a trusted adult
- Understanding emotions – building emotional literacy in concrete, relatable ways
- Breathing strategies – supporting self-regulation through breath and rhythm
- Whole-body movement – recognising the role of sensory and physical needs in regulation
- Cognitive activities – encouraging reflection, pattern recognition, and flexible thinking when appropriate
The flexibility of this structure means children can explore and choose the strategies that feel right for their body and brain. It encourages autonomy while providing a safe, scaffolded path from co-regulation to self-regulation.
What do other parents, teachers and therapists think?
Parents love that the book opens up meaningful conversations at home. It gives children the language, and permission, to talk about their emotions without fear of getting it “wrong”.
Therapists appreciate the neurodiverse-affirming language and the way the characters and planets externalise emotion, making it easier for children to explore and accept their feelings.
Educators highly value the Ready Rocket School Learning Program, an eight-lesson curriculum for Kindergarten to Year 2 that goes beyond the books. It incorporates the core concepts from The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket while introducing additional interactive activities, whole-class discussions, and practical tools to support emotional development. The program is designed to help every child feel seen, heard, and understood in the classroom.
Our Online Emotions Workshops offer two tailored learning experiences—one for parents and one for therapists—both designed to support children through emotional dysregulation using The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket.
👨👩👧 Parent WorkshopThis easily digestible, self-paced 4-hour workshop includes a detailed walkthrough of the resource and introduces a neurodiverse-affirming, science-backed framework. You'll learn about the development of emotions, key regulation considerations like attachment, sensory needs, and arousal levels, and gain practical strategies to support your child with confidence at home or in everyday life.
🧠 Therapist WorkshopThis in-depth, 4.5-hour self-paced workshop is designed to support and enhance your clinical practice. It covers emotional development, advanced regulation concepts, and offers practical, neuroaffirming tools to implement with clients. You'll also explore how to integrate The Galaxy Guide to Running My Rocket into therapy sessions to support co-regulation and build emotional independence in children.
