Mateo's Rocket
Control Room & Star Map
Today you built something amazing — your very own rocket. It's parked right inside your imagination, which means you can climb in and launch it any time you need to. Nobody else can see it. It's all yours.
A quick mission briefing
The rocket only works if you fly it
The astronauts who get really good are the ones who practise — not just on mission days, but in between too. So the more you visit your rocket and use your tools when you're feeling okay, the easier they are to find when Blaze gets fiery. Practising a little, lots of times, is what makes you a brilliant captain. This log also helps us see how far you've travelled — like a map of your whole adventure.
What you built
Your escape rocket
When the volcano starts to rumble and things feel too hot, you don't have to stay in the middle of it. You can climb into your rocket, close the hatch, and lift off — just for a little while. It's your safe place above the clouds, where you can look down and see that everything is going to be okay.
And the best bit? Your rocket isn't just for escaping. It's for steering. Inside, you've got a control panel full of dials that help you settle Blaze down — and a star map that lets you travel anywhere you want to go.
Inside the cockpit
Your control panel
Heat Dial
Turn it down to cool Blaze
Breath Dial
Slows everything down
River Switch
Calls in River to help
Your flight crew
Who's on board
You've got a whole crew inside you. Each one is trying to help in their own way — even the ones that feel tricky. None of them are bad. They just need their captain.
Blaze
Sits up front and spots when things feel unfair, or when a mistake happens. Blaze is brave and powerful and cares SO much about things being right.
Blaze isn't the problem — but Blaze isn't allowed to fly the rocket alone. That's your job, Captain.
River
Your calm co-pilot. When you flip the River Switch, River flows through the whole rocket and helps Blaze cool right down. Steady and safe, every single time.
Echo
Echo is the quiet one who feels sad and small when it seems like you're always in trouble for having big feelings. Echo worries that the feelings make you a bad person.
Here's the truth Echo needs to hear: having big feelings doesn't make you bad. It makes you human. Feelings are never naughty — they're just signals. You and Echo are learning that together.
When the volcano rumbles
Your launch sequence
Notice the rumble. Tight jaw? Hot chest? Fists forming? That's your signal — time to launch.
Climb in and close the hatch. You're safe in here. The volcano can't reach you.
Put one hand on your tummy and turn the Heat Dial down. Breathe in slowly so your tummy pushes your hand out — then breathe out slowly and blow the fire down and out. Do it three times.
Look out of the window. From up here, how big does the problem look now?
The best part
There are no rules in space
Your rocket, your rules
Build it however you want
This is the most important thing about your rocket: it's completely yours, and you can build it any way you like. Want a football pitch on the moon? Brilliant. An ice cream van parked right outside, open 24 hours a day? Go for it. A trampoline room, a pet dragon, a slide that goes all the way to Saturn? Yes, yes, and yes. There are no wrong answers in space.
Your star map
Planets you can visit
Once Blaze has cooled and you're floating peacefully above it all, you can point the rocket anywhere you like:
Planet Calm
Quiet, soft, slow. Nothing to do here.
Planet Brave
Where you feel strong and ready.
Your Planet
Not built yet — that's your mission!
Your mission before next time
Operation: Build Your World 🪐
- Practise your launch sequence at least once when you notice a rumble
- Turn the Heat Dial down, hand on your tummy, and blow the fire down — three slow breaths
- On a big-feelings day, try drawing your rocket and control room, or build it in Lego — it's a brilliant way to let the feelings out *and* you get to design something awesome
- Imagine your very own planet — somewhere with no gravity so you can bounce around weightless. What's on it? Build a little more each night before you sleep
- If you like, think up more about Blaze, River and Echo — what do they look like? We'll talk about it next time
What you take home
Two things to keep
Your Toolkit
For Mateo
The short, important bits — your tools, your crew, your launch sequence. The stuff to try when you need it. Quick to find, easy to remember.
The Mission Log
Mostly for grown-ups
A longer write-up of everything we talked about. It might be a bit much to read all at once — that's okay! It's there so your grown-ups understand your rocket too, and you can look back any time.
For Mateo's grown-ups
The rocket lives in Mateo's imagination — which is exactly where its power comes from. His subconscious can't tell the difference between vividly imagining the rocket and being in it, so the calm it creates is real. Letting him build it with no rules at all (yes, even the 24/7 ice cream van) is deliberate: it's where the joy comes from, and it tells me a great deal about how his mind works, which helps me help him.
This longer log is for you — it captures the stories and the exact language we use, so when Mateo mentions Blaze, River, Echo or his Heat Dial, you can step straight into his world with him. You can support him by asking warmly: "Did you need to launch the rocket today?" or "How's Echo feeling?" A note on Echo: this is the part of him that feels he's "in trouble" for big feelings — so wherever you can, naming the behaviour rather than the feeling ("the feeling's okay, let's find a safe thing to do with it") helps Echo feel less like the bad guy. Your calm is the most powerful tool in his whole rocket.
You worked really hard today, Mateo. Blaze, River and Echo are lucky to have a captain like you. Safe travels — see you next time. 🚀
Tami