🎬 Three Animations, Three Age Groups

The EMBRACE Future Squad is coming to life with three new animated videos for Module 2 – Cognitive Wellbeing ~ one for elementary school, one for middle school, and one for high school.

⇒ Elementary school: Featuring Sparky, Bytu, Nutty, and Wise (in progress)
⇒ Middle school: Featuring Maya, Maya+, Leo, and Leo+ (available now!)
⇒ High school: Featuring Ana, Alex, and Alex+ (coming soon)

This week, we’re excited to share the middle school video:
“Super Snacker Showdown” – now available in English on YouTube, developed by Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL (EA).

Watch here: The Energy Dip ⚡🥕🍎 | How Healthy Foods Give Us Superpower Energy

🍎 In this fun showdown, Maya and Leo learn that what you eat really matters. From chips and candy to fruit and nuts, the choices we make affect energy, focus, and even our brains. With a little help from their “+” characters, they discover that healthy snacking fuels both body and mind.

The video will soon be released with a professional Romanian voiceover, so more students can enjoy it in their own language.

Through these engaging stories, EMBRACE helps kids and teenagers ages 6-18 explore how everyday habits shape their emotional and cognitive development.

Learn more: https://embrace-future.eu/

🌈 Growing Emotionally Stronger: EMBRACE Launches Module 3!

In Romania, nearly one-third of adolescents aged 11-15 report feeling sad almost weekly, more than double the EU average. This underscores the need to teach kids emotional resilience early.

Source: UNICEF – Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Romania

That’s why EMBRACE Future is launching Module 3: “I am fine with my emotions”, a hands-on journey through emotional recognition, expression, and self-regulation.

In this module, kids and teenagers aged 6-18 explore:

• How to identify and name emotions in themselves and others
  • How emotions show up in our bodies, behaviors, and communication
  • How to express feelings in healthy, respectful ways
  • How positive emotions support motivation, empathy, and confidence
• How to apply emotional regulation strategies like calming techniques, anger and fear management, and self-control

Students are invited to reflect, share, and grow in supportive classroom settings, using tools like discussion prompts, group activities, role-play, and personal reflection.

As with Module 2, Module 3 will be piloted in 10 schools across Iași, Bacău, and Vaslui counties during September-October 2025, reaching hundreds of students aged 6-18. 

📍 IAȘI
1️⃣ Liceul Teoretic Comandor Alexandru Cătuneanu (www.catuneanu.ro)
2️⃣ Liceul Special Moldova – Târgu Frumos (www.liceulmoldova.ro)
3️⃣ Școala Gimnazială Ion Creangă – Târgu Frumos (www.sioncreanga.weebly.com)

 4️⃣ Școala Gimnazială Garabet Ibrăileanu – Târgu Frumos (www.gibraileanutgfrumos.ro)

📍 BACĂU
5️⃣ Școala Gimnazială Domnița Maria Bacău (www.scoaladomnitamaria.ro)
6️⃣ Școala Gimnazială Dealu Morii (www.scoaladealumorii.ro/)

 7️⃣ Școala Gimnazială Gheorghe Nechita – comuna Motoșeni (www.scmotoseni.ro/)

📍 VASLUI
8️⃣ Școala Gimnazială „Stroe S. Belloescu” – Bârlad (www.scoalastroebelloescubarlad.ro/)
9️⃣ Liceul Tehnologic Puiești (www.liceul-tehnologic-puiesti.ro)
🔟 Școala Gimnazială ”Ion Murgeanu” – Zorleni (www.scoalazorleni.ro)

These schools continue to champion children’s mental health and emotional literacy through innovative, classroom-ready practices.

Learn more: https://embrace-future.eu/

🧠 Too Much Screen Time? Let’s Talk About It

How long are you on your phone or computer each day? Does being on your devices ever make you feel drained?
This is a topic we are tackling in the EMBRACE Future Session 3 of Module 2, middle school students across Romania are learning how screen use affects their brain, emotions, and well-being – and what they can do about it.

💬 The class begins with group problem-solving:

• What if your friend can’t sleep because they’re on their phone for 7+ hours?
  • How do you support someone being bullied online?
  • What if your self-worth depends on likes?

Students work together to reflect and propose healthy responses.

Then, facilitators explain key brain concepts:

• Screen time affects sleep, memory, posture, and creativity
• Social media can harm self-esteem and emotional balance
• Sometimes, playing games and being on apps for too long can have an impact on our attention.

🍇The session includes the “Fruit Salad” energizer game to refresh and connect

And ends with a personal quiz and commitment:
→ “I’ll turn off notifications during class”
→ “I’ll take a screen break after 1 hour”

By combining science, empathy, and action, EMBRACE helps young people make informed choices in a digital world with Maya, Maya+, Leo and Leo+ accompanying them every step of the way!

📘 Participation Is a Right, Not a Privilege

In EMBRACE Future, we believe that children and young people should not only be seen, but heard, in schools, families, and their communities.

Our new brochure, EMBRACE Informational Brochure – Participation of Children and Young People – English Version outlines why meaningful participation is essential for creating fair, inclusive societies, and how children can exercise this right in daily life.

🧒👧 Featuring EMBRACE characters Ana, Ana+, Alex, and Alex+, the brochure breaks down to:

• What participation really means
• Where children and teens can get involved ~ at home, school, or locally
• Why consultation matters, and how adults can make space for youth voices

As the UNICEF Child Participation Toolkit explains: “Children have the right to be heard in all matters affecting them… It is not only an autonomous right, but also a general principle of the CRC. This means that the exercise of the right to participation is an essential lever for the realization of all children’s rights.”

Real participation empowers young people to shape their world, and builds the confidence, critical thinking, and civic awareness they need to thrive.

You may also download the EMBRACE – Broșură informativă Participarea copiilor și tinerilor – Romanian Version

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Meet the Middle School Squad: Maya, Leo, Maya+ & Leo+

How can students aged 10-14 better understand their emotions, navigate changing friendships, and build healthy confidence?

In the EMBRACE Future project, we introduce four characters who support middle

schoolers through their mental health journey:

Maya ~ A creative heroine who learns to express herself and speak up for others.

Leo ~ An energetic hero who explores empathy, patience, and positive leadership.

Maya+ ~ A calming inner guide who supports reflection, self-advocacy, and emotional balance.

Leo+ ~ An inner guide who encourages emotional regulation, group awareness, and thoughtful conflict resolution.

Rather than assigning roles based on gender, we invite students to connect with whichever character reflects their own strengths and challenges.

By combining relatable role models with gentle inner voices, this character set helps students strengthen emotional literacy, navigate social dynamics, and build confidence as they grow.

Learn more at embrace-future.eu

🧘‍♀️ How Do Kids Learn to De-Stress?

Stress isn’t just for adults, children feel it too. Learning how to manage their stress early can make a big difference in their well-being.

That’s why Session 2 of Module 2 of EMBRACE Future includes simple, engaging techniques to help elementary school students (ages 6-10) recognize and release tension.

Some of the activities in this session include:

• Emotional Check-In – Choosing a color to describe their feelings
  • My Anti-Stress Key – Identifying common school stressors and reflecting in small teams
  • My Joke – A circle where students can tell a joke, if they feel like it
  • Car Wash – A movement-based energizer to shift tension through play
  • The Wave – A calming breathing and motion exercise
  • Emotional Check-Out – Reflection prompts and a shared moment under the group parachute

📸 On social media this week, you’ll see Wise Owl and Bytu from the EMBRACE Squad joining the conversation, reminding students that it’s okay to feel, share, and reset.

These simple exercises help children better understand their own emotions and create a classroom culture of support and empathy.

Learn more at embrace-future.eu.

🎲 Stand Up If… You’ve Been That Student

How do you break the ice at school?

The EMBRACE Future team has created an energizer game for Module 2 – Session 2 in High Schools, where students can stand up only if they have done something… relatable.

Some of the examples used in the teaching materials?
• “I said ‘The internet is slow’ just to avoid answering in class.”
• “I accidentally liked an old photo while stalking someone on Instagram.”
• “I gave a completely wrong answer with full confidence.”
• “I pretended to be sick just to skip school.”
• “I laughed at an inappropriate moment and couldn’t stop.”

The game is playful, honest, and a great way to build connection and trust in the classroom. It shows that it is ok not to be perfect and invites self-reflection and peer empathy, while still being fun.

🧠 Part of Module 2: Cognitive Well-being, this session helps students connect their own daily experiences with how emotions, choices, and attention are all linked to brain function and well-being.

Learn more: embrace-future.eu

🧠 Discovering the 5 Parts of the Brain

This June and July, EMBRACE CERV PROJECT Module 2 – Cognitive Well-being is being piloted in Romanian elementary, middle and high schools schools. Our teams from Fundatia, Serviciilor Sociale Bethany (FSSB), Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar (FSC), Asociatia “Bună Ziua, Copii din România”` (BZRO), Federatia Organizatiilor Neguvernamentale pentru Copil (FONPC) & Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL (EA) have adapted the materials for three distinct age groups, resulting in tailored Module 2 curricula.

In Session 1, middle school students learn about the 5 key parts of the brain through an animated video and interactive tools designed to help them understand how the brain supports thinking, feeling, and learning. Originally created in English, this video will soon be available in Romanian.

What are the 5 parts?

• Cerebral Cortex – thinking, problem solving, decision-making
  • Cerebellum – balance, coordination, movement
  • Brainstem – breathing, heartbeat, reflexes
  • Limbic system – emotions, motivation, memory
  • Amygdala & hippocampus – emotional responses and remembering what matters

Students then explore these concepts using a PowerPoint presentation and the interactive “Brain Home” activity, where each part of the brain is matched to a “room” in a symbolic house.

These tools help students connect abstract concepts with real-life experiences ~ making brain science both fun and meaningful.

📲 Learn more at embrace-future.eu

🧠 Building Emotional Intelligence from the Ground Up

In this first session of EMBRACE Module 2: Cognitive Well-being, elementary students (ages 6 to 10) are introduced to how the brain works, how to recognize their own strengths and qualities, and how to regulate their emotions. Through interactive activities, they also explore the value of teamwork and mutual support. The goal is not only to share information, but to help children develop awareness of their thinking, emotions, and motivation.

According to neuroscience, children’s brains are continuously shaped by their environment. That means every experience can help or hinder their cognitive growth. Learning to learn, embracing effort, and analyzing mistakes are all key to unlocking their full potential.

In Module 2, children explore:

• Basic brain structure and functions: what neurons do, how attention and concentration work, and what helps them remember things better.
• Information processing: how sleep, daily routines, and even emotions influence how we take in and remember information.
• Effort and motivation: they learned that making mistakes is part of learning and that effort and practice help the brain grow, reinforcing the concept of a growth mindset.
• Healthy habits for learning: The session emphasized that movement, nutrition, rest, and emotional balance all contribute to brain function.
• Reflection activities: students were invited to draw and name parts of the brain, describe their own habits, and share when they feel most focused, most distracted, or most motivated.

Specifically, in Session 1 of Elementary School Sessions in July, students learn:

• Understand what the brain is and how it functions
• Recognize that all emotions are valid, and it’s normal to feel differently each day
• Reflect on their own strengths and qualities through drawing and sharing
• Explore shared classroom values by contributing to a symbolic “class treasure”
• Practice basic mindfulness and breathing techniques to support emotional regulation
• Work in teams to identify personal strengths in various scenarios and reflect on collaboration

The learning materials ~ presentations, worksheets, classroom activities ~ were developed by our dedicated EMBRACE partners: Fundatia Serviciilor Sociale Bethany (FSSB), Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar (FSC), Asociatia “Bună Ziua, Copii din România” (BZRO), Federatia Organizatiilor Neguvernamentale pentru Copil (FONPC) & Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL (EA).

📲 Learn more at embrace-future.eu