The Science

Decades of studies show that helping kids understand and manage their emotions early in life supports long-term success—socially, academically, and even physically.

Study 1: The Role of Emotional Regulation in Children’s Early Academic Success National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Overview - This study found a strong positive relationship between children’s emotional regulation skills and their early academic success in kindergarten. Emotional regulation skills were directly correlated with teacher reports of academic achievement, classroom productivity, and standardized early literacy and math scores.

Study 2: The Harvard Grant Study Harvard Gazette
Overview - One of the longest-running studies in history, the Harvard Grant Study has followed participants since 1938, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data on well-being and health across a lifetime.
Key findings:

• Stable, fulfilling relationships are the strongest predictor of long-term health and happiness.
• Positive relationships protect individuals from daily stressors and buffer against both physical and mental decline.
• Relationship quality was a better predictor of life satisfaction than IQ, social class, or even genetics.

Study 3: Attachment-Related Differences in Emotion Regulation in Adults: A Systematic Review National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Overview - This review ties together findings across the lifespan. It shows that individuals with strong emotional regulation skills are more capable of forming and maintaining secure, healthy relationships.

Step 1: Story
Research shows that stories activate the emotional and sensory parts of the brain, making new ideas more memorable and meaningful. By engaging both imagination and emotion, stories help children absorb and remember emotional regulation skills over time.

Step 2: Play
After reading, imaginative play with Team Supercrew Plush and Capes helps children practice and personalize what they’ve learned. Research shows that play-based learning strengthens self-regulation, empathy, and problem-solving by turning abstract ideas into real experiences.

Step 3: Support
When big feelings take over, kids need calm support. The Team Supercrew SOS Kit offers sensory tools, movement, breathing, and 80 therapist-developed strategies to help families manage tantrums and meltdowns with connection and care.

Tantrums are a typical aspect of neural and emotional development between ages 1–4. As emotional regulation skills mature, children tend to experience fewer or shorter tantrums, demonstrating increased ability to pause, seek support, or employ self-calming strategies before emotional escalation.

Research: Emotional Regulation and Tantrums Study
Source: University of Toronto Thesis Archive (PDF)
Overview:
This research highlights the direct link between emotional regulation skills and the frequency and intensity of tantrums
Key finding:
Children with stronger emotional regulation skills experience fewer and shorter tantrums, as they’re better able to recognize, express, and manage their emotions before they escalate.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychological approach that focuses on the interaction between thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Decades of research show that helping children recognize and reframe their thoughts can reduce emotional distress and improve coping skills.

Team Supercrew adapts these same core principles for early learning. Through story-based modeling, imaginative play, and co-regulation strategies, the products help children practice the foundational CBT skills of emotional awareness, flexible thinking, and self-regulation in developmentally appropriate ways.

At this age, children are just beginning to recognize and name their emotions. Reading Team Supercrew stories together helps introduce feeling words and simple coping ideas in a way that feels fun and safe.

The plush and capes turn those lessons into play, letting toddlers act out emotions and practice early calming skills with your support. Even short, repeated exposure to story and play helps build emotional awareness and connection.

Preschoolers and early elementary kids are ready to connect emotions to actions. Team Supercrew stories and tools help them notice what feelings look and feel like, understand cause and effect (“I was mad, so I yelled”), and begin trying strategies on their own - like deep breathing or asking for help.

Through story, play, and the SOS Kit, children start building the foundation for independent emotional regulation.

Older children can start reflecting on their thoughts and understanding that feelings are temporary and manageable. Team Supercrew helps this age group strengthen emotional vocabulary, self-talk, and problem-solving, the same skills taught in CBT.

They learn to pause before reacting, choose strategies that work for them, and build confidence in managing frustration, worry, or disappointment - skills that benefit both school and home life.