SEL Resources for Parents: Bella the Therapy Dog Energy Series
Updated: Aug 16
Helping children understand their emotions can be challenging—especially when they know something is happening inside their bodies but do not yet have the words to explain it.
That is the heart of Bella the Therapy Dog: The Energy Series.
Created by Stacy Pleta, LCSW, the series gives children and the adults who support them a simple, visual framework for talking about body clues, energy, feelings, and coping tools. Rather than teaching children that certain emotions are “good” or “bad,” Bella helps children become curious about what their bodies are telling them.
The goal is not to make every child calm.
The goal is to help children notice, understand, and choose what helps.
A Different Way to Talk About Feelings and Energy
One of the most important ideas in Bella’s Energy Series is that energy and feelings are related, but they are not the same thing.
Energy describes what is happening in the body—how low, steady, fast, or intense that energy feels.
Feelings describe the emotions a child may be experiencing alongside that energy.
For example, two children can both have Yellow Energy while feeling very different emotions. One might feel excited about a birthday party while another feels nervous about a test.
Similarly, Red Energy does not automatically mean anger. A child might experience Red Energy because they are frustrated or overwhelmed, but they might also experience very big Red Energy when someone they love comes home after being away.
This distinction gives children a richer and more accurate way to understand themselves.
The Four Energy Levels
Bella introduces children to four color-coded energy levels.
💙 Blue Energy — Low & Slow
Blue Energy may feel tired, heavy, quiet, slow, or low.
A child experiencing Blue Energy might also feel sad, lonely, disappointed, bored, sick, or simply in need of support.
Blue Energy is not bad. It is information.
The child's body may be asking for rest, comfort, connection, gentle movement, or one small first step.
💚 Green Energy — Calm & Ready
Green Energy may feel steady, comfortable, focused, organized, or ready.
But Green is not the “good” color, and children are not expected to stay Green throughout the day.
Being calm and ready also does not mean sitting perfectly still. One child may sit quietly while another works best standing, moving gently, or using a fidget.
Readiness can look different in different bodies.
💛 Yellow Energy — Fast & Rising
Yellow Energy may feel fast, wiggly, restless, activated, or full of movement.
Children might experience Yellow Energy while feeling worried, excited, nervous, frustrated, impatient, or full of anticipation.
Yellow Energy does not automatically mean something is wrong. Sometimes that extra energy helps children participate, play, compete, perform, or prepare for something important.
❤️ Red Energy — Very Big Feelings
Red Energy may feel powerful, intense, overwhelming, or like the body has a lot of energy all at once.
Children might feel angry, frustrated, scared, disappointed, overwhelmed, excited, joyful, or full of love.
Red Energy is not bad—and it is not limited to difficult emotions.
Sometimes life's happiest moments create very big energy, too.
Bella's Four-Step Framework
Across the series, Bella teaches the same four steps so children have a consistent process they can use in different situations.
🔍 1. Notice Your Clues
What is happening in my body?
A child might notice:
a fast heartbeat
heavy shoulders
butterflies in the stomach
tight hands
sleepy eyes
shaky legs
a need to move
The first step is simply noticing without judgment.
🔋 2. Check Your Energy
How much energy does my body have?
Does the child's energy feel low and slow? Steady and ready? Fast and rising? Very big and intense?
The color gives children a concrete way to describe an internal experience that may otherwise be difficult to explain.
❤️ 3. Identify Your Feelings
What am I feeling?
Once children have noticed their body clues and energy, they can begin exploring the emotions underneath.
They may discover one feeling—or several.
A child can be excited and nervous.
Happy and overwhelmed.
Disappointed and angry.
There does not have to be only one answer.
🧰 4. Choose a Tool
What might help my body right now?
This is where children begin developing their own self-regulation skills.
A helpful tool might include movement, breathing, a quiet fidget, a squish ball, drawing, asking for space, seeking comfort, talking with a trusted adult, or simply taking one small next step.
The purpose of a tool is not necessarily to make the energy or feeling disappear.
A tool is helpful when it supports the child's body and helps them respond to what they are experiencing.
Self-Regulation Is More Than “Calming Down”
Parents are often encouraged to teach children how to calm down.
But self-regulation is much broader than calmness.
A child can still feel disappointed and make a thoughtful choice.
A child can still have Red Energy and communicate what they need.
A child can still feel nervous and participate.
A child can still feel excited and be regulated.
Sometimes children need a quiet space or adult support. Other times, they may be able to use a tool right where they are.
Different bodies need different things.
Helping children understand that difference can make regulation feel less like punishment and more like learning about themselves.
Using Bella's Framework at Home
Parents can use Bella's four questions during ordinary moments throughout the day—not only when something has gone wrong.
Try asking:
What clues do you notice in your body?
What does your energy feel like?
What are you feeling?
What might help your body right now?
These questions can be useful before school, after a busy day, during homework, before bedtime, before sports, during transitions, or when a child is excited about something coming up.
Using the framework during calm everyday moments makes it easier for children to access it when emotions become bigger.
Avoid Turning Energy Colors Into Behavior Labels
Energy colors should help children understand themselves—not become another behavior-management system.
A child should not be praised simply for being Green or made to feel that Yellow or Red Energy means they have done something wrong.
Instead of saying:
“You need to get back to Green.”
try:
“What is your body telling you?”
Instead of:
“You're in Red.”
try:
“What clues are you noticing right now?”
The goal is for children to gradually identify their own internal experiences rather than having adults decide those experiences for them.
Meet Bella's Energy Series
Each book gives children an opportunity to explore these concepts through relatable stories.
🐾 Bella the Therapy Dog: What Color Is Your Energy?A Guide to Understanding Feelings and Energy
Introduces children to all four energy levels and Bella's four-step framework.
💙 Bella the Therapy Dog: Blue Energy — Low & SlowA Guide to Understanding Tired, Sad, and Low Feelings
Explores low energy, sadness, tiredness, disappointment, support, and taking one tiny first step.
💚 Bella the Therapy Dog: Green Energy — Calm & ReadyA Guide to Understanding Calm, Focused, and Ready Feelings
Shows children that being ready does not require sitting still or feeling happy—and that calm and ready can look different in every body.
💛 Bella the Therapy Dog: Yellow Energy — Fast & RisingA Guide to Understanding Worried, Wiggly, and Excited Feelings
Explores worry, excitement, nervousness, mixed emotions, movement, and making choices while energy feels fast.
❤️ Bella the Therapy Dog: Red Energy — Very Big FeelingsA Guide to Understanding Angry, Frustrated, Overwhelmed, and Excited Feelings
Shows that very big energy can occur during frustration and disappointment—but also during excitement, happiness, love, and joyful moments.
An SEL Resource for Children—and the Adults Who Support Them
Bella's Energy Series can provide parents with more than books to read together.
It creates a shared language.
Instead of adults needing to immediately interpret or fix a child's emotions, Bella's framework encourages curiosity:
What is happening in your body?
What is your energy doing?
What are you feeling?
What might help?
Over time, those conversations can support emotional vocabulary, communication, coping skills, resilience, and greater independence with self-regulation.
Most importantly, children receive a message worth hearing again and again:
All energy levels are okay.
All feelings are okay.
Notice. Understand. Choose what helps.
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