Captain Moment & Gate of Adventures Bundle

Package contents:

Captain Moment – Emotion Regulation and Attention Control Program

Inside the Handbook:

• 228 pages of valuable insights in the handbook

• 85 playful exercises to practice emotion regulation and mindfulness

• 9 interactive mindfulness stories

• 10 week session plans

• 36 story illustrations
• Exercises suitable for preschool, school, and home use
• Theoretical background for 10 key topics
• Tips and ideas for engaging activities
• A wide range of colorful, eye-catching images and illustrations

Through the adventures of Captain Moment, children can:

• Learn the basics of emotion regulation
• Master techniques to control their attention
• Learn self-soothing techniques to manage stress more easily
• Learn how not to get trapped in negative thoughts
• Learn how to quiet their inner critical voice
• Learn how to be more open and accepting of themselves and others

The Captain Moment program introduces children to the world of mindfulness through interactive stories, playful exercises, and discussions.

The goal of the program is for children to learn how to relate to their feelings and thoughts, and teach them how to bring their attention back to whatever they are currently doing.

Why is it important for children to learn emotion regulation and attention control?

Tantrums, outbursts, fighting, impulsive behavior: why does a child act like this?

Children often become impatient, tense, strike out at other children for no reason, interrupt others, or lack the patience to finish tasks at school or kindergarten. These behaviors are often misunderstood as ‘misbehaving’, but the real reason lies in the child’s inability to regulate their emotions.

Insufficient emotion regulation in childhood can cause various problems, affecting different areas of the child’s development.

• If a child cannot manage their emotions, this might manifest in outbursts of anger or aggression, but they may also act impulsively (e.g. interrupting others, breaking rules, eating too quickly, rushing).
• Lack of emotion regulation can also negatively affect social relationships, as the child may struggle to make friends, frequently get into conflicts with peers, and fail to respond appropriately or understand others’ emotions.
• Children struggling with emotion regulation may also be more prone to anxiety or stress, especially in school settings, which can hinder their learning

Negative emotional reactions point to immature emotional skills, yet managing emotions is crucial for school readiness, academic success and mental health.

Does your child’s attention wander easily?

More and more children struggle with attention disorders, which is a result, in many ways, of today’s modern world, overloaded with artificial stimuli. And not only digital stimuli! Even a simple shopping trip to a hypermarket can overstimulate a developing child’s nervous system, making it hard for them to process the overwhelming amount of input. As a result, they may feel rushed, stressed, tense, frustrated, and unable to focus on tasks or even simple things like reading a story or playing a game they enjoy.

In this book, Bella Bagdi – psychologist, mindfulness teacher (MBSR, MBCT) and mindful self-compassion teacher (MSC) – offers simple and effective methods for preschool and early elementary school children to regulate their emotions and practice attention control.

The Captain Moment Program’s 10 Weekly Themes:

Captain Moment Sets Sail: Introduction to the basics of mindfulness, learning playful mindful breathing techniques.

Captain Moment on the Isle of Five: Discovering and mindfully using the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) with the Magic Hat, which symbolizes mindful presence in the stories.

Captain Moment and Drifty: Attention is like a muscle that can be trained. The ‘puppy’ nature of attention is embodied by Drifty, whom we can learn to call back when he wanders off.

Captain Moment’s Treasure Chest: Discovering the small pleasures of everyday life. Learning to appreciate the good and create feelings such as joy, gratitude, and love.

Captain Moment and the Island of Peace: Developing the ability to self-soothe in stressful situations.

Captain Moment and the Storm of Emotions: Understanding the basic emotions (joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust) and playful exercises to manage them.

Captain Moment and the Reef of Thought Clouds: Understanding the nature of thoughts, and exercises on how to break free from the grip of negative thoughts.

Captain Moment and Quieting the Inner Critical Voice: The Grumpy Gremlin embodies the inner critical voice, which children can learn to quiet and discover their inner voice of encouragement.

Captain Moment and Acts of Kindness: Children can discover how kindness can change things. Practicing kindness through attention, words, and deeds.

Mindfulness in Daily Life: Consciously applying the playful mindfulness techniques learned so far in everyday situations.

Gate of Adventures – A card game for developing creative problem-solving skills

The Gate of Adventures card game takes your child on exciting and imaginative journeys that build resilience, boost confidence, and strengthen problem-solving abilities, creative thinking, and coping skills, all through the power of play.

How can you help your child become more creative, resourceful, and resilient?

As a parent, you want your child to succeed in life, and to face life’s everyday challenges with confidence and ease. But sometimes they hesitate, or they might be shy, unsure of themselves, or intimidated by bigger tasks, not knowing what to do about them. They may even hold back from things you know they’re capable of doing. So you start to worry about how they will cope later in life.

• How can you help them strengthen their problem-solving skills?
• How can you spark their courage and motivation?
• What can you do to help them feel excited about trying new things?
• How can you support them in finding creative solutions when things get tough?

In fact, the best way to help your child is through something they already love: play. Play isn’t just entertainment; it’s one of the most powerful ways children learn. While playing, they get to test their limits and skills, explore new situations, and act more freely, without the inhibitions that might otherwise hold them back in everyday life.

This is exactly where the Gate of Adventures card game can support you. The cards invite the children into magical adventures where they’ll need to find solutions to fantastical situations. Along the way, they’ll also encounter everyday challenges that call for just as much clever thinking and creativity.

The goal of the game is to strengthen children’s problem-solving abilities and nurture their creative thinking. Through magical quests and real-life challenges, they learn how to solve problems creatively and build effective coping strategies, all while having fun.

Why is it important to develop children’s problem-solving skills?

A child’s ability to solve problems also plays a crucial role later in life:

1. Problem-solving skills promote independence and help children navigate everyday challenges. Children who can solve problems more effectively are better at adapting to change and handling difficulties.
   
   
2. Critical thinking develops through problem-solving. Children learn to analyze situations, identify possible solutions, evaluate different approaches, and choose the most suitable one. This strengthens their overall cognitive development and reasoning.
   
   
3. When children succeed in solving a problem, they gain confidence and self-esteem. These positive experiences motivate them to face new tasks with courage and trust in their own abilities.
   
   
4. Problem-solving fosters teamwork and communication. Children learn to collaborate, share ideas, and listen to others, especially through the cooperative play mode available in the Gate of Adventures card game.
   
   
5. Problem-solving also improves children’s emotion regulation skills, particularly in managing frustration and stress.
   
   
6. Creativity and innovation are closely linked to problem-solving. Children discover how to come up with original solutions for challenges—a skill that’s increasingly valuable in today’s rapidly changing world.
   
   
7. Better problem-solving leads to better academic performance. Children who are effective problem-solvers are more focused, persistent, and motivated to learn. They’re also more capable of understanding complex concepts and making connections.
   
   

Do you want your child to grow into a confident and capable adult?
Then building strong problem-solving skills is a must.

How to play the Gate of Adventures game

The game can be played in two different modes:

In the cooperative game mode, players don’t compete against each other—instead, they work together to go on as many adventures and solve as many challenges as they can. They either win together or lose together. This shared gameplay experience encourages teamwork and cooperation, while offering fun and exciting adventures for even the youngest explorers.

The competitive game mode gives more experienced adventurers a chance to challenge each other. In this version, the winner is the first player to complete all their missions. While competition is part of the gameplay, the focus remains on fun and the joy of playing, so everyone can enjoy the challenges and the adventure.

What ages is the game suitable for?

The game is recommended for children aged 3 to 12, making it a great activity for both younger and older children to enjoy together.

How many players can play the game?

The game can be played by 1 to 6 players at a time, so whether your child wants to play alone or you’re looking for an activity for the whole family or a classroom group, it’s a perfect fit.

How long does the game last?

Each session lasts around 15–20 minutes, making it ideal for busy weekday evenings or for a relaxing break during a trip or outing.

About the author

BELLA BAGDI

Psychologist, mindfulness instructor (MBSR, MBCT), Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher (MSC), founder and lead developer of the Happiness Lesson Program. She launched the Happiness Lesson Program in the 2014/2015 school year, and since then, more than 1,500 kindergartens and schools have joined it. More than 100,000 children and young people can now take part in Happiness Lessons, often referred to by students as “emotion classes”.

Bella’s mission is to use science-based methods to promote mental health and thereby contribute to a happier, healthier, and more compassionate society. Her best-known publications are the Happiness Lesson book series and the Positivity development games.

Awards:

• Forbes Makers Hungary Award 2025.
• HundrED’s Global Collection of the most impactful and scalable innovations for 2025.
• HundrED’s Spotlight of the most effective Wellbeing in Schools programmes, 2025.
• Happiness Lesson OTP Fáy Educational Innovation Award - lower primary school category, 2024.

HundrED, an organization that promotes science-based education programs, has selected the Happiness Lesson Program as one of the 100 most impactful school innovation programs in the world. The Happiness Lesson Program is now included in the HundrED Global Collection 2025 and has also been recognized as one of the 15 most impactful school well-being programs globally.