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What Is My Body Telling Me?
PawSteps · Interoception Pack · Body Signals Made Visible
🍽️ 💧 🥱 🚻
✔ 12 body-signal detective cards (clue ➜ meaning ➜ action)
✔ Signal-to-action matching worksheet
✔ Body map — where do I feel it?
✔ Daily body check-in sheet
✔ Therapist/parent guide to interoception
✔ For autistic & ADHD learners, OTs, and any child who
"suddenly" melts down, wets, or crashes — the signals were there, just unheard
Interoception is the sense of what's happening INSIDE the body — hunger, thirst, a full bladder, a racing heart, rising temperature, tiredness, pain. Many autistic and ADHD children feel these signals faintly, late, or all-at-once — which is why a child can be "fine" at 2:59 and in meltdown at 3:00. The signal was there; it just wasn't heard until it was deafening.
🕵️ The approach: body detective
We can't give a child stronger signals, but we can teach them to NOTICE the quiet ones. Each card names a clue ("tummy rumbles"), what it means ("I'm hungry"), and what to do ("eat something / tell a grown-up"). Practise when calm — never mid-crisis.
📌 How to use the pack
Introduce 2–3 cards a week, not all 12 at once. Narrate your OWN body out loud constantly ("my eyes feel heavy — that's my body saying I'm tired"). Use the body map after activities: "you just ran — where do you feel it?" Do the daily check-in at the same time each day so it becomes automatic.
💚 The payoff
A child who can say "I'm hungry" at the rumble stage doesn't have to scream at the starving stage. Interoception work is meltdown-prevention at the source.
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PawSteps · Detective Cards 1 of 2
Body Clue Cards
✂️ Cut out and laminate. Each card: the CLUE your body sends ➜ what it MEANS ➜ what TO DO.
🍽️
Tummy rumbles or feels empty
= I'm HUNGRY
➜ Eat something, or tell a grown-up "I'm hungry"
💧
Dry mouth, sticky lips
= I'm THIRSTY
➜ Have a drink of water
🚻
Full, pressy feeling low in my tummy
= I need the TOILET
➜ Go NOW, don't wait for later!
🥱
Heavy eyes, big yawns, floppy body
= I'm TIRED
➜ Rest, slow down, tell someone
🥵
Sweaty, red face, sticky skin
= I'm too HOT
➜ Jumper off, drink water, find shade
🥶
Shivery, goosebumps, cold hands
= I'm too COLD
➜ Jumper or coat on, warm up
🕵️
PawSteps · Detective Cards 2 of 2
Body Clue Cards
✂️ These six are the feelings-linked signals — the ones that sneak up before big emotions.
💓
Heart beating fast, breath quick
= excited, scared or angry is COMING
➜ Slow turtle breaths 🐢, tell a grown-up
🦋
Butterflies or swirly tummy
= I'm NERVOUS or worried
➜ Say it out loud, ask what's going to happen
💪
Tight fists, tight jaw, hot face
= ANGER is filling up
➜ Calm-down card, move away, big breaths
🤕
Ouch that stays — sore or throbbing
= something HURTS
➜ Show a grown-up where, ask for help
🤢
Swirly-sick feeling in my throat/tummy
= I feel SICK
➜ Tell a grown-up straight away, sit down
🌪️
Fizzy, wriggly, can't-sit-still body
= I need to MOVE
➜ Ask for a movement break, do wall pushes
🔗
PawSteps · Worksheet 1
Clue Detective — Match It!
Name:
Date:
🕵️ Draw a line from each body clue to what your body is telling you.
Tight fists, hot face 💪 I'm nervous about something
Butterflies in my tummy 🦋 I'm thirsty — drink water
⭐ Detective challenge: right now, this minute — scan your body from head to toes. What ONE clue can you find? (Even "no clues, all quiet" is a brilliant answer!)
🗺️
PawSteps · Worksheet 2
My Body Map — Where Do I Feel It?
Name:
Date:
🎨 Pick a feeling (or do one after PE, one before lunch!). Colour WHERE you feel it on the body, using the colour key.
PINK = warm / fizzy / fast (excited, angry)
BLUE = heavy / slow / floppy (tired, sad)
PURPLE = swirly / fluttery (nervous)
YELLOW = rumbly / empty / pressy (hungry, toilet)
✏️ I was feeling:
The biggest clue was in my:
📋
PawSteps · Daily Sheet
My Body Check-In
Name:
Date:
🐢 Do a slow body scan — head, tummy, arms, legs — then circle your answers. Same time every day builds the habit (before lunch works brilliantly).
🍽️ My tummy is…
😋 rumbly-hungry 😐 okay 🤢 swirly 😌 comfy-full
💧 My mouth is…
🏜️ dry — need a drink! 😐 okay
🚻 Do I need the toilet?
✅ yes — going now! ❌ no 🤔 not sure — I'll try anyway
⚡ My energy is…
🌪️ fizzy — need to move 😊 just right 🥱 heavy — need rest