Seeing Feelings Differently: Take 5 and Blob Tree Partnership

Ever asked a young person how they’re feeling and only heard “fine”?

For many adolescents, especially those growing up in high-stress environments, naming emotions isn’t easy. When adolescents experience frequent, ongoing or chronic exposure to adversity, a toxic stress response occurs, which negatively affects self-regulation, stress management and risk-taking. This significantly impacts adolescents’ ability to manage and regulate emotions. 

Research shows that adolescents aged nine to fourteen have a crucial window to strengthen their resilience and mental well-being. This window provides a unique opportunity for intervention and is of particular significance for adolescents already facing risks to their well-being, including poverty, deprivation, conflict and crisis. 

This is where Take 5 intervenes. Take 5 is a scalable and replicable model developed by Waves for Change (W4C), which fuses evidence-based routines and activities to create a fun, culturally relevant, and youth-led mental wellness service for adolescents.

Through a new partnership with Blob Tree, Take 5 has introduced a powerful visual Check In tool to programmes across our global network. The Blob Tree features simple, expressive characters that help participants of all ages identify their emotions in an accessible, non-verbal way. Backed by more than 40 years of research, the Blobs support emotional literacy, empathy, and connection.

“Using the Blob Tree helps students show their mood and gives us a way to show them empathy,” says Munsiff Ahmed, a Take 5 Coach with our partner organisation Dream A Dream in India. “I’m feeling like number 15 because I’m enjoying myself and playing with my friends,” he shares during a session — modelling exactly what Take 5 encourages: noticing feelings, naming them, and feeling safe enough to share.

At Siri School in Bangalore, students were so inspired that they recreated the Blob Tree themselves and now use it daily as part of their Check In. In South Sudan, Take 5 partners have begun introducing the tool to support emotional expression in group sessions, helping young people feel seen and supported before activities begin.

This partnership reflects the heart of Take 5: creating safe, playful spaces where positive experiences shape positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. By combining movement, creativity, and simple emotional tools, Take 5 helps young people and adolescents build self-awareness, resilience, and confidence — skills that extend far beyond the session.

Partnerships like this allow Take 5 to continue to scale while staying grounded in evidence, creativity, and the lived experiences of young people and coaches. By working alongside organisations that share our values, we strengthen the tools available to create safe, supportive spaces where children can thrive.

Simunye, Sisonke!

Download The Blob Tree Check In, and discover new games and activities.

Explore the Take 5 Coach’s Guide.

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