The Feeling Beans: Creating a story to teach early years children about self-regulation
Jane Baker
5/8/20242 min read
Why was The Feeling Beans created?
Understanding the importance of teaching children to recognise, articulate and self-regulate their emotions is hugely important. Initially, we taught the zones of regulation in our Early Years through a book called, ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas. Whilst the emotions were conveyed in a meaningful and captivating way, we began to find that the story no longer worked for us.
This was partly due to the introduction of the Zones of Regulation in Key Stage 1 and 2, which meant that the colour yellow, originally representing ‘happy’ in Nursery and Reception, became ‘anxious’ or ‘worried’ in Year 1 upwards. This caused a complication, particularly when reflecting on the transition from Reception to Year 1, which was and continues to be a key focus for primary schools within the UK.
This led me to start searching for alternative books or approaches which could replace this story. Whilst there were a range of fiction and non-fiction books available, we were unable to find one which represented all emotions through an early years foundation stage friendly main character. In addition, we were unable to find any books which incorporated simple metaphors of the emotions alongside meaningful self-regulation techniques.
During the summer of 2023, I began to design what was soon to become; The Feeling Beans.
How was The Feeling Beans book created?
What initially began as simple watercolour paintings of a ‘bean’ with different emotions, grew into a main character known as ‘Little Bean’. This gender neutral character changes colour depending on their mood, replicating how one child can recognise a range of emotions within themselves.
I sought the help of a digital artist who was able to use my ‘bean’ paintings to create professionally illustrated characters. We edited the images to ensure they felt child-like and ‘cute’, to appeal to young children. The colour yellow became the emotion, ‘worried’ or ‘anxious’, to ensure consistency with the Zones of Regulation in Years 1-6. In addition, I used the colour orange to represent ‘happy’ instead.
Once the feeling beans characters were established within the EYFS classrooms in the form of interactive displays, I began writing a book to accompany the concept.
The book began with a draft storyboard, then my hand painted illustrations, detailing Little Bean’s first day at school.
