Stickers. Marble jars. Token systems. Oh my!

They're everywhere in early childhood - and for good reason. Rewards often work - but what are they really teaching children? And what if we’re using them in ways that create more problems down the track?

In this episode, I unpack the biggest myths about rewards and give you six practical, research-aligned ways to use them without crushing motivation, connection, or community.

You’ll hear: 

🪄The problem with how rewards are often studied—and what’s missing from the data.

🪄Three myths about rewards that just won’t die (and why they’re so sticky).

🪄 Six practical ways to use rewards well, without relying on bribes or behaviour scripts.

🪄The difference between “supporting behaviour” and “controlling it.”

🪄 Why praise matters too—and how to use it to build self-worth, not just win approval.

Whether you’re pro, anti, or somewhere in the murky middle, this episode will give you clarity and confidence to use rewards with intention; not just habit.

Helpful links

Download my free guide Navigating Rewards When You’re Expected to Use Reward Systems

Purchase my Behaviour Bites guide More Than “Good Job”: A Practical Guide to Praise That Builds Lifelong Learners

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Discipline must always be consistent with a child’s dignity.

This episode is all about culture and how we create spaces where rights aren’t just printed on a poster but felt in the moment - especially when behaviour gets tough.

Building on part one, I explore how to translate rights-based values into real-world practice using the UNICEF Pathway framework.

You'll hear:

📣 Why discipline doesn’t mean punishment-and what it actually does mean

📣 The four pathways of UNICEF's Child Rights Education framework and how they can show up in daily work

📣 How exclusion undermines rights - and why we need to question it

📣 Why advocating for rights means speaking up and acting differently

📣 Ten guidelines to help you support behaviour while upholding rights

If you’re someone who believes that all children deserve to feel safe, heard, and held - especially in their hardest moments - this episode is for you.

Helpful links

10 books to explore rights with children

10 guidelines for embedding rights into behaviour support

Explore the UNICEF Child Rights Education Toolkit

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Children’s rights don’t disappear when behaviour gets loud.

Yet too often, what we say we believe - safety, dignity, belonging - quietly slips away when behaviour gets tricky. This episode unpacks the powerful, uncomfortable intersection between behaviour and rights and why the two must always go hand-in-hand.

You’ll hear:

⚖️ What children’s rights actually are

⚖️ Why children’s rights are not conditional - and how “good behaviour” can’t be the price of belonging

⚖️ How to shift from being a gatekeeper of behaviour to a gatekeeper of rights

⚖️ Why traditional ideas of authority and ‘being in control’ need to be unlearned

⚖️ Four big myths that keep you stuck in outdated behaviour models

This episode isn’t about blame; it’s about breaking the old scripts so we can lead with connection, not compliance.

Helpful links

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Empathy isn’t a “sorry” on cue.

In the final part of the Big Feelings 101 series, we bring it all home with the skills that transform awareness into action. This episode unpacks how children build emotional resilience, connect through empathy, and develop that inner knowing: “I can handle this.”

You’ll hear:

🌱 The difference between affective and cognitive empathy (and why both matter)

🌱 Why “how would you like it if…” often misses the mark in early childhood

🌱 Practical ways to build empathy and perspective-taking through stories, play, and everyday repair

🌱 How emotional communication creates connection - not just expression

🌱 What emotional self-efficacy really looks like in practice (hint: it’s not calm; it’s trust)

If you're ready to go beyond naming feelings and start building emotional wisdom in your practice, this episode will guide the way.

Helpful links

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Take a peek at my Behaviour Bites guide, Beyond "Say Sorry"

Articles

Implications of Carolyn Saarni’s work for preschoolers’ emotional competence

Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence

Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

"Use your words." But what if the words don’t exist yet?

In Part 3 of my Big Feelings 101 series, I dive deep into emotional expression and vocabulary - how children move from raw feelings to regulated communication, and why the way we respond to their emotions matters more than we think.

You’ll hear:

💬 Why some children stop showing emotions (and what that really means)

💬 How emotional language builds brain pathways for regulation

💬 The difference between naming feelings and truly connecting them to experience

💬 Four ways to build emotional vocabulary that go beyond charts and scripts

💬 What “display rules” are - and how we teach context without shutting down authenticity

This episode is your guide to turning emotional expression into emotional intelligence - so children can feel their feelings and share them in ways that deepen connection.

Helpful links

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Articles

Emotion Wheel For Kids: What It Is, Benefits, and How to Use

Implications of Carolyn Saarni’s work for preschoolers’ emotional competence

Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence

Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

'Regulated' doesn’t always mean calm.

If you’re guiding children through big feelings with nothing but deep breaths and “use your words,” this episode will change everything. In Part 2 of my Big Feelings 101 mini-series, we go deeper into what emotional regulation really is (and isn’t), the integral role of co-regulation, and the often-misunderstood difference between regulation and coping.

You'll hear:

🧠 Why emotional regulation isn’t the same as being quiet or compliant

🧠 The distinction between emotional regulation and self-regulation (and why it matters)

🧠 Real-life strategies to support regulation through naming, anchoring, and micro-moments

🧠 What happens in a child’s brain during emotional overload - and what they need from us

🧠 How to co-regulate without rescuing or fixing (and what repair looks like when we mess up)

If you’re someone who’s sick of shallow 'calm down' tips and wants to truly support children’s nervous systems and emotions with intention, this episode is for you.

Helpful links

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Articles

Implications of Carolyn Saarni’s work for preschoolers’ emotional competence

Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence

Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Children can't regulate feelings they don't know how to feel.

In part one of this three-part mini-series - that I'm affectionately calling Big Feelings 101 - I'm providing a compassionate, practical look at what emotional competence actually is (hint: it’s much more than just regulation), why it’s essential to how we understand and support children’s behaviour and the eight skills involved. I'll also provide a deep(ish) dive into the first two skills and how to bring them to life in your practice.

You’ll hear:

🐰 What emotional competence really means and why it’s often misunderstood

🐰 The first two foundational skills: recognising your own feelings and recognising them in others

🐰 The deep interconnection between how we recognise emotions in ourselves and in others

🐰 How interoception and theory of mind shape emotional awareness

🐰 Micro-moment that support these skills through everyday connection

This episode sets the groundwork for guiding big feelings without shame, power-over, or rewards and gives you the language to name what children actually need to become emotionally competent individuals.

PS: Very (very) mild coarse language features in this episode.

Helpful links

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Articles

Implications of Carolyn Saarni’s work for preschoolers’ emotional competence

Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence

Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

What if movement was the missing piece in learning to read?

For too long, we’ve asked young children to sit still and focus when their brains are wired for motion. In this powerful episode, I chat with Stefanie Hohl, creator of ABC See, Hear, Do, about how movement can transform early literacy, especially for children who’ve struggled with traditional methods.

Stefanie Hohl is the creator of ABC See, Hear, Do - an innovative phonics program that helps children learn to read through movement and fun. As a literacy advocate, author, and educator, she has helped thousands of children develop a love for reading. Stefanie is passionate about making learning engaging, especially for active children.

You'll hear:

👋🏼 Why expecting children to sit still is actually hindering their learning.

👋🏼 How movement enhances phonics and creates stronger neural pathways.

👋🏼 The shocking gap in teacher training around reading instruction — and how it impacts classroom confidence.

👋🏼 What teachers can do today to weave purposeful movement into literacy learning.

👋🏼 Real stories of children who couldn’t read - until movement made it click.

This episode opens up a new, evidence-aligned path and is especially valuable for educators curious about the science of reading, phonics instruction, and meeting learners where they are.

Helpful Links

Visit Stefanie's website ABC See, Hear, Do

Check out Stefanie's products on Amazon

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Real inclusion isn’t about ticking boxes.

Phwoar. This conversation is a powerful one. I welcome Sarah Middleton and her 12-year-old son, Charlie (the first child on the show - yay!), to The Bloom Room for a critical conversation around why it’s time to move beyond Whole Body Listening towards inclusive listening practices. Charlie shares his lived experience of Whole Body Listening, reflecting on the consequences of this approach that were naked to the invisible eye. 

This year, Sarah and Charlie undertook their first grass roots advocacy campaign - the Force 4 Good campaign - which fast became a movement, bringing like-minded people together to petition against the widespread use of Whole Body Listening in classrooms (learn more about this in the episode). In this discussion, Sarah shares the challenges encountered with their campaign (some quite surprising), and the hope that has come with connecting with others.

You’ll hear:

🌏 How the typical ‘teacher look’ can feel for a child with high sensitivity

🌏 Why quiet doesn’t always mean engaged

🌏 The importance of questioning “how things have always been done” and why ticking boxes doesn’t lead to long-lasting change

🌏 The links between whole-body listening, masking and belonging

🌏 How to advocate for change - and why quietly modelling inclusive listening practices might be the key to creating change in your environment

If you aren't already convinced that we need to move past Whole Body Listening - hearing Charlie's lived experience will get you over the line.

Helpful Links

Connect with Sarah on Instagram @sarah.middleton.blg

Visit the Force 4 Good campaign website Charlie's Letter

Read Dr. Connie Buckingham's blog Whole Body Listening: A First Attempt to Find the Science to Back a Change

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au

Hey, quick heads up before you go - I've got an epic Black Friday sale running!

Peep my 5 Deals of the Day here.

Real inclusion isn't about ticking boxes.

Phwoar. This conversation is a powerful one. I welcome Sarah Middleton and her 12-year-old son, Charlie (the first child on the show - yay!), to The Bloom Room for a critical conversation around why it's time to move beyond Whole Body Listening towards inclusive listening practices. Charlie shares his lived experience of Whole Body Listening, reflecting on the consequences of this approach that were naked to the invisible eye. 

This year, Sarah and Charlie undertook their first grass roots advocacy campaign - the Force 4 Good campaign - which fast became a movement, bringing like-minded people together to petition against the widespread use of Whole Body Listening in classrooms (learn more about this in the episode). In this discussion, Sarah shares the challenges encountered with their campaign (some quite surprising), and the hope that has come with connecting with others.

You'll hear:

🌏 How the typical 'teacher look' can feel for a child with high sensitivity

🌏 Why quiet doesn't always mean engaged

🌏 The importance of questioning "how things have always been done" and why ticking boxes doesn't lead to long-lasting change

🌏 The links between whole-body listening, masking and belonging

🌏 How to advocate for change - and why quietly modelling inclusive listening practices might be the key to creating change in your environment

If you aren't already convinced that we need to move past Whole Body Listening - hearing Charlie's lived experience will get you over the line.

Helpful Links

Connect with Sarah on Instagram @sarah.middleton.blg

Visit the Force 4 Good campaign website Charlie's Letter

Read Dr. Connie Buckingham's blog Whole Body Listening: A First Attempt to Find the Science to Back a Change

Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy

Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au