The Inside Squad
By Stefanie Tocco and Abbey Spiro
Equip the kids in your life with the tools they need to thrive!
Build the Inside Muscles Kids Need for the Outside World
A hands-on social-emotional learning workbook that helps kids understand themselves, navigate challenges, connect with others, and grow.
The Inside Squad gives kids practical tools they can use in everyday life - at school, at home, on the field, with friends, and wherever else life takes them. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, caregiver, counselor, or coach, The Inside Squad is here to help the kids you care about strengthen their inside muscles so they can navigate life’s ups and downs with more ease.
What if kids could practice the skills they need for life - just like they practice reading, math, or their favorite sport?
The skills that help us through life can feel invisible and intangible, but The Inside Squad helps make these invisible skills visible.
Through engaging activities, reflection prompts, games, and real-world tools, kids learn how to strengthen their own “inside muscles” so they can handle what happens on the outside. The Inside Squad empowers readers to tackle whatever life throws their way with confidence, awareness, compassion, and resilience.
Life asks kids to navigate big emotions, changing friendships, unexpected challenges, mistakes big and small, and all sorts of new experiences. The Inside Squad gives kids the tools they need to be more self-aware, connected with others, and resilient in the face of change.
Meet Your Inside Squad
The Inside Squad introduces kids to a collection of 13 skills across 3 main competencies, giving them skills they can continue to practice and hone throughout their lives.
:: Self-Awareness :: Mindfulness, Emotional Awareness, Intuition, and Self-Kindness help us notice and understand what we’re feeling, and learn to listen to ourselves.
:: Humanity :: Empathy, Curiosity, Collaboration, and Speak-Up help us understand and connect with others, and be open to new ideas.
:: Change :: Adaptability, Perseverance, Courage, Decision Making, and Stretch to Grow help us navigate, adapt, and respond to the only certainty in life — change.
More than a workbook…
The Inside Squad was created to help kids move from knowing to doing.
Each sections combines kid-friendly explanations with activities that encourage kids to:
Notice what’s happening inside
Explore their thoughts, emotions, and experiences
Practice new ways of responding
Reflect on what they are learning
Use their skills in real life
And when they need a little extra support, the toolkit in the back gives them practical strategies they can return to again and again.
Praise for The Inside Squad
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As a psychotherapist, I have been incorporating The Inside Squad both in my practice and at home with my son. This book offers an accessible and engaging approach for school-age children, including those with specific sensory and cognitive needs. Abbey and Stefanie provide clear, easy-to-follow activities and strategies that help children identify their emotions, manage them effectively, and develop healthy coping skills—essentially strengthening their “inside muscles.” I appreciate how the book translates complex emotional concepts into practical tools that children can understand and apply. It’s a valuable resource for parents, educators, therapists, and school counselors looking to reinforce emotional regulation and resilience in children. I highly recommend it as a complement to other therapeutic and educational strategies.
Julie Schoenlein, LISW-S
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I had a huge heart opening while reading THE INSIDE SQUAD as it is such a blessed and beautiful gift to share with a child. How empowering for them to be given, at such a young age, tools and skills to manage their emotions and to bring balance and joy into their bodies! It would be life changing, once learned and practiced, for any child! The interactivity and basic structure of practicing together would be fun as well, and a lovely way in which to bond with one's child, devoid of pressure and unrealistic expectations as the adult would be learning from the philosophy and poses as well! I highly recommend this fun and inspiring book and am grateful for the magic found within its pages!
Marilyn Sadler - Author, children’s books
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Beautiful workbook to approach mindfulness with our children and find simple ways to integrate it into daily life. Got it for my 7 year old daughter, but as a nearby observer I've already benefitted from some of the lessons myself. Will by buying extra copies for friends' birthday gifts. Highly Recommend!
Nicolas - Amazon Review
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This workbook is fantastic - it touches on the essential knowledge we wish all children could have, wish our grown children had had, and, in fact, wish we'd had. It's never too late, adults could use this book too. The book speaks directly to the young mind that may not have experienced validation for emotions, reaching them where they are in their lives with reassurance, warm language, and examples that will be relatable.
Eileen Clegg - CEO of vTapestry and visual journalist
Meet The Authors
Stefanie and Abbey met as teammates on their college gymnastics team. Now, two decades later, they’ve teamed up again to bring you The Inside Squad. Since their time together as teammates, Stefanie and Abbey have done significant work in mindfulness, yoga, habit change, conscious leadership, and systems change, and have come together to bring The Inside Squad into the world.
