Calm Club: Pause & Play
Big emotions are part of growing up. Learning how to understand and navigate them is a skill that lasts a lifetime!
Calm Club Pause & Play is a seven-week live online course where children and parents explore thoughts and feelings together through stories, games, creative activities and calming exercises.
Together, you’ll discover practical tools you can use to navigate big emotions and everyday family life.
7 weeks | 30 min/week | Live online | Ages 6–9 + parent | English | Max. 8 families | Pause & Play kit included
Dr Vinet Coetzee
Author of Chit-Chat the Talking Hat · Creator of Calm Club
INTRO CALL
Want to meet before you decide?
Book a free 20-minute introductory call. Tell me a little about your family, ask any questions you have, and get a feel for Calm Club.
No pressure. No obligation. Just a chance to meet and see whether it’s right for your family.
Why 7 weeks?
Understanding your inner world isn’t something we learn in one afternoon.
Pause & Play grew from what we observed during our Calm Club workshops: parents were benefiting from the tools too, and families needed more time to explore, practise and make them their own.
Seven weeks gives you enough time to try things together, practise at home and gradually build a shared emotional language and toolkit for navigating big feelings together.
And because it’s live online, you can do it all from the comfort of home. Pyjamas very welcome!
Grounded in research, made for real families
Pause & Play brings together research into emotional regulation and coping, my experience as a behavioural researcher, and lessons learned from my own family and Calm Club workshops.
I wanted to turn what research and real family life teach us into something children and parents can actually use: simple, playful tools for navigating big feelings together.
“Also useful for parents”
“It was also useful for me as a parent to be there, so I can help put what we learned into practice at home.”
Parent who attended the Calm Club Intro workshop
This November, we’re welcoming just eight families to the first Pause & Play pilot course.
You’ll experience the full seven-week course while helping us learn and refine it for future families.
Pilot price: €179 per family (one parent + one child), including all seven live sessions and your Pause & Play Kit.
Additional family members are welcome! Additional material sets are available for €30 per person.
What happens during the course?
This course is all about doing something meaningful and playful with your child while you both develop useful emotional skills.
Over seven weeks, you and your child will:
- Pause: Learn to slow down, look inward and become more aware of thoughts, feelings and what’s happening inside.
- Explore: Discover thoughts and emotions in a fun, playful and age-appropriate way.
- Find your calm: Build a toolkit of practical calming strategies and discover what works best for you.
- Play: Practise different ways to respond to big feelings and choose what to do next.
- Learn together: Explore new skills through stories, custom games, creative activities and plenty of practice.
Your Pause & Play Kit
Every family receives a Pause & Play Kit to bring the course to life at home, including Chit-Chat, the Talking Hat, creative activities, calming tools and a new surprise to discover each week.
A little something to explore, play with and practise together, long after the Zoom call ends.
Exact colours, designs and surprise items may vary.
What parents say about Calm Club
Pause & Play is new, but it grew directly from the experiences and feedback of families who joined our Calm Club Intro workshops.
“Wonderful and engaging”
“This was a wonderful and engaging workshop that helped my child understand and express her emotions in a fun, age appropriate way.
My child especially enjoyed the breathing exercise and the drawing activity.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Wajeeha H.
“Skills that last beyond the workshop”
“In the weeks after my son looked at the guide when he got upset and practiced the easy to follow steps, which miraculously worked for him.”
“Practical tools that children understand”
“I really love the practical way you demonstrate calming down and lessons learned!”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Laurika V.
“Helping children cope with big feelings”
“So good for learning emotional regulation and dealing with anxiety!”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Erika V.
Practical information
Format: 7 weekly live online sessions, of around 30 minutes each.
Miss a week? No problem. Family life happens! If you can’t make one of the live sessions, I’ll make sure you can catch up so you don’t miss out.
Between sessions: Fun, simple activities to play and practise your new skills together
For: English speaking children aged 6–9 and their parent(s)
Next course dates: 1 November–13 December 2026
Day/time: Sunday mornings, time to be confirmed.
Time zone: CET (Central European Time) — UTC+1
Pilot price: €179 per family (one parent + one child) including the Pause & Play Kit. Additional materials: €30 per additional person.
Image note: Some illustrative images on this website were created with the assistance of generative AI and are used to represent workshop activities.