Old Dog and Elly fear goannas, Ms Chen fears geckos, and Big Cuz fears the dentist. Little J boasts he isn’t scared of anything, but this may not be true. When Mick, Ally, Little J and Old Dog go to the beach, Little J discovers that his hero, Mick, is scared of Hermit crabs. Together, on the cliff, Mick and Little J overcome their shame of being afraid and help each other to be brave.

Explore - Practise personal and social skills to interact positively with others 

Theme - PHOBIA

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 11 ‘Nothing Scares Me’, engage students with the following learning activities to support their understanding about phobias, and how to overcome them.

As a class, revisit Little J’s story within the Episode 11 ‘Nothing Scares Me’, and ask students to recall the events of his day.

Using a ‘Roller-coaster’ chart, plot the highs and lows of Little J’s day, for example:

Have students consider what events have happened to them that day or the day before, and how they felt at the time of each. Discuss with students how everyone feels anxiety and happiness all in the same day. Invite students to plot their own ‘Roller-coaster chart’ as an attempt to recognise and identify their emotions.

Explore with students the triggers that change how they feel. Have students suggest what they worry about, such as family, pets, friends, change, siblings, etc.

As a class, read/view, Ironside & Rodgers (2015) The huge bag of worries (Teacher resource) . Discuss how Jenny feels when her worries get the better of her and how her behaviour changed because of her worries. Explore the advice given to Jenny by the old lady and how Jenny’s behaviour changed.

In small groups of 3–4 students, have students role-play if they were the character, Jenny, what worries would they have in their ‘worry bag’; the other students in the group can be characters who try to assist her.

As an extension of the role play, change the scenario to a well-known fairytale and present students with a ‘What if…?’, such as:

• What if… Jack’s mother climbed the beanstalk and found the golden goose?
• What if… the three little pigs weren’t home when the wolf came to visit?
• What if… Little J was scared of the goanna, and Uncle Mick was scared of heights.

Suggested teacher resources

• Role Play
• Classroom Lesson Plans

1. Worry Warrior (Crayola)

As a class, build a Worry Warrior: an imaginary creature or contraption to help ‘gobble up’ worries using recycled or reused objects.

Students write a ‘worry’ of theirs on a piece of paper and pop it in the Worry Warrior. At the end of the week, the class reviews the worries in the Worry Warrior and brainstorms a number of solutions for each worry.

2. Bubble wall

Explain to the students that their worries may seem like bubbles that hang over their heads. Using a safe detergent/shampoo, have students blow bubbles that represent their worries. As a symbolic action to discard their worries, invite students to watch the bubbles float away and pop.