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Tricky moments and what your child could say

Practise the tricky moments before they happen

Everyday skills for friendships, school and life online

Every day, children run into situations that shape how they think, feel and get on with others. Being left out of a friendship group, being teased, standing up to peer pressure or finding the courage to speak up can look like small moments. They are also where a lot of emotional and social learning happens.

Life Scenario lets children practise these moments before they happen. In hundreds of short, real-life scenarios, they look at a situation from different sides and try answering with empathy, kindness, courage and confidence. They are asked why a choice matters, how it affects other people and what they might do differently next time.

Why practise real-life situations?

Children aged 6–14 are still learning to recognise emotions, control their reactions, see other people’s points of view and think before they decide. In a difficult moment, a child may know what they should do and still struggle to find the words or the nerve to do it.

Practising in a game gives them time to stop, think and try a different answer, with no classmates watching. With practice, and a chat with an adult afterwards, children can build skills such as:

These skills affect how children feel, how they learn and how they get on with others.

How Life Scenario works

1. Read a real situation

Each scenario is a situation children recognise: friendships, bullying, peer pressure, honesty, school life, being online or an everyday choice about right and wrong. Your child works out what is happening, how they would feel and what they could do.

2. Answer in their own words

There are no options to pick from. Coming up with an answer is the practice: your child has to think the problem through, keep calm and decide.

3. Get feedback

An AI model gives short feedback on the answer, so your child can think about how their choice would affect the other people in the scene. The feedback never labels a child as good or bad.

4. Talk it over

The guides below go with the scenarios. Each has example replies by age and questions to ask, so you can talk about other points of view and practise a different answer together.

For parents and teachers

For parents

A scenario is an easy way into a conversation your child might otherwise avoid. You do not have to wait for a falling-out, a bullying incident or a bad day at school. Going through the situation beforehand gives your child some words ready, and it makes it easier for them to tell you when something does happen.

For teachers

A scenario can start a class discussion: what each person in the story wants, what the class would do and why answers differ. It fits into social-emotional learning time. The guides also show how children of different ages might answer the same situation.

Skills grow with practice

Telling a child to be confident or kind only goes so far. These skills grow when children try things, think about how it went and have adults who back them up. Life Scenario gives them a safe place to try: a game for ages 6–14 where they face a difficult moment, decide what to do and see how it might go.

See also: role-play scenarios for kids · the scenario library

Friendship and being left out

My child wasn’t invited to the birthday party
Your child found out about a party they weren’t invited to. What they can say at school, and what you can say at home to help.
My child’s best friend has a new best friend
Their best friend keeps picking someone new. What your child can say to the old friend and to the new kid, and how you can help them through it at home.
My child’s friends keep making plans without them
Their friends keep going to the movies or starting group chats without them. What your child can ask them, and what you can say at home.
Two of my child’s friends are fighting and want them to pick a side
Two friends have fallen out and both want your child on their side. How to stay friends with both, with lines your child can use when they’re asked.
My child apologized, but their friend still won’t forgive them
Your child said sorry and the friend still ignores them. What to try next, with replies your child can use and ideas for working through it at home.
A friend told my child’s secret to other kids
Your child shared something private and the friend told other kids. What your child can say to that friend and to the class, and what helps at home.

Teasing and embarrassment

Classmates laughed at my child in class
A wrong answer, a spilled bag or the wrong day for dress-up, and the class laughed. Lines to help your child move on, and what to say at home.

School and classwork

A friend keeps asking to copy my child’s homework
Homework and friendship: when a friend wants to copy your child’s homework, how to say no and keep the friend, with lines by age and what to say at home.
My child freezes when presenting in front of the class
Halfway through a presentation, your child’s mind goes blank. Lines to get going again, and how to prepare at home for the next one.

Online and group chats

My child is in a group chat that’s being mean to a classmate
The class chat has turned on a kid who isn’t in it. What your child can post, message privately or do offline to help, and what you can say at home.

Setbacks and sport

My child didn’t make the team
What to say to a child who didn’t make the team, and lines they can use with the coach and with friends who made it, with versions for ages 6 to 14.

Manners, gifts and visits

How can my child react to a gift they don’t like?
Your child opens a present they don’t like while everyone watches. Honest, kind replies, what to do about a duplicate, and what to say later.
My child doesn’t like the food at a friend’s house. What should they say?
Dinner at a friend’s house and your child doesn’t like the food. Polite lines they can use, and how to recover if a “yuck” slips out.
My child broke a friend’s toy
Your child broke a friend’s toy and the friend hasn’t noticed yet. How to own up and offer to fix it, with the words your child can use.