Meet Marcus. Today is moving day (a new home, a new street, a new school) and a little voice called the Wobble says nothing will feel like home again. His growing buddy Sprout is moving to a new pot too. This is the story of how Marcus finds the steady inside the change.
The storyteller reads to you. Just tap the big button!
Follow Sprout through Marcus's big change: every part is a steady move you can use for any change of your own.
Word Power
Tap each word. Then, if you want, say one out loud.
Now YOU say it: “Things can change… and I can stay steady!”
Say it out loud, loud enough that Sprout can hear you!
Steady Meter
Do each part to grow steady. 0/9
Marcus's Big Change
Read the scene. Try the move. Find the steady.
Part 1
Moving Day
“Nothing will ever feel like home again.”
Today is moving day. The big truck is full. Marcus stands in his old room. It is empty now: no bed, no toys, just bare walls and a squeaky floor. Everything feels wobbly, like the floor tipped a little. “Nothing will ever feel like home again,” says the Wobble. Marcus's eyes get hot.
Sprout says: Big feelings come first, before we fix anything. Tap to see what everyone is feeling.
What is everyone feeling?
Say it: “Feelings first. Fixing second.”
Part 2
Calm the Wobble
Marcus's chest feels tight and his tummy flutters. That is his body's wobble. It comes fast, before he can think. Before Marcus answers the Wobble, he takes a slow breath.
Sprout says: Get steady with Marcus. Breathe in slow through your nose… and let it out even slower through your mouth. Feel the wobble get quiet.
Get steady with Marcus
Say it: “A steady breath makes me steady.”
Part 3
What Changes, What Stays Steady
Marcus thinks everything is changing. But Sprout knows a secret: when things change, some things stay steady. Some things are new, and some things come with you.
Sprout says: Let's sort them. Tap each one: does it change, or does it stay steady?
New, or steady? Tap to sort.
Sprout says: See? Lots changes. But the steady things come with you.
Say it: “Some things are new. Some things stay steady.”
Part 4
Tell the Story in Order
A big change is a lot like a story. Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Marcus's moving day is a story too. Let's put it in order.
Sprout says: Tap the pictures in order: what happened first, next, and last.
First, next, last: tap each one.
Sprout says: You are in the middle of your change story. And the middle always leads somewhere. Middles do not last forever.
Say it: “Beginning, middle, end. I am in the middle.”
Part 5
Steady Moves
At the new house, the boxes are tall as a mountain. The Wobble whispers, “This is not home.” But Marcus knows a change is a story, and he can help write the next part.
Sprout says: Pick a steady move that helps a new place start to feel like home.
Pick a steady move
Say it: “One steady move at a time.”
Part 6
Everyone Has a First Day
Marcus thinks he is the only one who ever felt this wobbly. Sprout smiles. “Almost everybody has a first day sometime,” says Sprout.
Sprout says: You are in good company, Marcus. Tap each one and hear about their first day.
Everyone's first day: tap to hear
Say it: “Everybody has a first day. Then it gets steady.”
Part 7
The First Day, For Real
“You don't know anyone. Hide.”
Monday. Marcus stands at the door of his new school. His heart is pounding. The Wobble is right there: “You don't know anyone. Hide. Go home.” What should Marcus do?
Sprout says: This is the big moment. A steady move keeps Marcus in his story: pick the one he would be proud of.
Choose Marcus's move
Part 8
A New Kind of Home
That night, Marcus lies in his new bed. Bear is beside him. The big tree taps the window. Theo is his new friend. It is not the old home, it is a new kind of home. And it feels okay. “The change had a beginning and a middle,” Marcus thinks, “and this is a pretty good end.”
Sprout says: Look at everything that grew. I even grew a new leaf in my brand-new pot! Tap the steady receipts.
Tap the steady receipts
Say it: “New can become home.”
Part 9
Help the Next New Kid
A few weeks later, a new kid walks into class, holding the door tight. Her eyes are wide and her shoulders are up by her ears. Marcus knows that feeling: that is the Wobble, same as his first day. His whole change was practice for this exact moment.
Sprout says: This is the best part of growing: passing it on. Pick what Marcus says.
Pick what Marcus says
Say it: “Pass the steady.”
Story complete
🌱 You found the steady inside the change with Marcus and Sprout, all nine moves! You earned your Steady badge, and look how big Sprout grew in its brand-new pot!
And here is the secret: this works for every change, not just moving. A new class, a new baby, a new anything. Every change is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and you can find your steady in it.
One more time, steady and strong: “Things can change… and I can stay steady!” Want to hear yourself say it?
Say it out loud, loud enough that Sprout can hear you!
Tell a grown-up: ask me what STEADY means.
For Grown-Ups
What this builds (transformative SEL): Agency (“I can do it”) with a thread of Identity (“Who I am”).
This story helps a child manage the feelings of a big change by giving the change a shape: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Two things you can do alongside it: (1) name what stays steady (“our family, your name, Bear: those come with us”), and (2) tell the change as a story together, in order, so your child hears that they are in the middle, and middles lead somewhere.
One quick swap
Instead of “You'll be fine,” try “This is the wobbly middle, and middles don't last forever.”
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.
Some changes are happy, some are sad, and some are both: a separation, an empty chair, a goodbye you didn't choose. This story keeps a gentle, everyday anchor (a move) on purpose, and it never tells a child how to feel or to “move on.”
If your child is carrying a loss, the same moves still hold: name the feeling, take a steady breath, notice what stays steady, and know they are not alone in it. Missing someone or something is a kind of love, and it is allowed to stay.
For grief and heavier family changes, please lean on a trusted adult, your child's counselor, or a professional: this is a practice tool, not therapy.
Nothing your child taps or says is saved or sent. Narration reads the story only, never your child. The optional “say it out loud” recording lives only in that moment on the device: it is never saved, never uploaded, and it is gone when the page closes.
This is a practice tool for rehearsing skills, not therapy, counseling, or a clinical service.