Upstairs in our brains live little people called... Calming Cassie, Problem Solving Piper, Creative Callum and Flexible Fiona. They all help us do very clever thinking and help us learn.
Downstairs in our brain live our emotions and the emergency crew.
Happy Hugo is in charge most of the time until we sense danger... then Frightened Faith, Alerting Amelia, Rushing Ralph and Big Bossy Ben take over.
When downstairs takes over upstairs gets flipped out of the way and no one can go up and down the stairs.
Sometimes flipping our lid is the best thing to do - it keeps us out of danger.
Big Bossy Ben can signal to other parts of our body to get ready. He can make our heart beat faster so we are ready to run very fast or our muscles ready to fight.
He can also tell parts of our body to switch on or switch off.
We might need to stay very still so we can hide from danger.
Big Bossy Ben takes over to keep us safe.
Sometimes the downstairs crew get all worried about nothing and our brain gets ready to keep us safe - when we are already safe!
When this happens our brain as flipped for no reason and that stops us thinking properly.
Calming Cassie, Problem Solving Piper, Creative Callum and Flexible Fiona need to take back control from the downstairs fellas so we can get back to normal thinking. Has that ever happened to you?
This is a great explanation of body/brain function in stressful situation. Great learning at such a young age.
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