Shelly & The Can-Do Kids

Noelle loves Christmas ... time with family, delicious food and gifts under the tree! What's not to love? Well, (as Noelle discovers) getting a gift you didn't ask for and didn't want feels pretty bad. Uncomfortable feelings come flooding in when she opens the gift in question. Was she stupid for imagining Christmas could be perfect? She feels so disappointed. Fortunately Shelly knows a thing or t...

Lucia is in a state of sadness. Christmas has come to an end. The kitchen discos are over. The presents are all unwrapped and Lucia HATES endings! Where has all the fun gone? Shelly HATES endings too. She tries to help Lucia but is also managing an ending of her own. Can they help each other find a way through the feelings that endings bring? How do you cope with endings? Are all endings bad? Can...

Dante is a wonderful wordsmith; he loves writing stories... but oh dear, his teacher has announced a writing competition and to his surprise he’s feeling the fear. The pressure to succeed is filling him with self-doubt. Luckily Shelly believes she knows a bit about being brilliant and the uncertainties that come with that. How do you overcome a mental block when working creatively? How do you get...

Tomas loves to tap. He’s seen some new shoes. He desperately wants them. They sparkle and the thought of wearing them makes his heart skip a beat. The problem is he doesn’t need them, and his parents aren’t going to stump up the money for new tap shoes. He feels angry but determined to make them his. Luckily Shelly understands. There are lots of things she wants too. Can she help Tomas learn the v...

Daphne love, love, loves Greek mythology! The problem is this makes her feel unusual, different from her friends. When her teacher tells the class that this term they'll be studying The Greeks, she doesn't know what to do. She doesn't want to stand out, BUT she can't bear to hold in all the ideas and stories, swirling in her brain. Fortuitously, Shelly can help with this one! She's been called all...

Neema doesn’t want to help out at home, she just wants to rollerblade. Who can blame her, chores are boring, right? Things come to a head with her dad. He thinks helping out is exactly what   she  should  be doing. Thankfully Shelly is on hand to assist Neema, as she works through this contentious family issue. Utilizing songs and chat, Shelly tries to show Neema that helping out ma...

Bonnie is sooooo bored. It’s the summer holidays and she is fed up with her parents’ vague suggestions of things to do while they work. Why are parents so annoying? She heads out to the garden, only to find Shelly ready to offer wisdom about the ‘gift’ of boredom. Can Bonnie make sense of this puzzling advice? Is it ok to be bored? Can boredom take you to places you never imagined? Listen to find...

Poor Alonso feels all by himself. He has two teenage stepsisters, who are not always at his house.  Even when they are, he finds he’s still lonely. Shelly knows all about loneliness – most molluscs do. She and her friends in the garden (a hippy snail collective and Queen Bee Bernadette) are ready and waiting to help. They have a few ideas to bring Alonso out of his lonely shell. Why migh...

Clover is feeling impatient and frustrated.  Being the youngest in the family means she often has to wait and well, quite frankly, she is fed up. When she finds out that her dad has forgotten to put her on the list for after-school Coding Club, this is the ‘cherry on the cake’ of frustration. She storms out to the communal garden. Thankfully, Shelly is waiting to talk through these uncom...

Oops, Renée has made a mistake! She has had an accident and broken an object that belongs to her new friend Leah. Oh dear, and things were going so well with this blossoming friendship. Shelly is on hand to help. She knows ALL about accidents, as she has had quite a few herself! Her trusty band of divorcee frogs are on hand to help. Gradually Renée realises that she has to face up to what she’s do...

Samson can’t sleep. He has ‘going to bed dread’. He just can’t get comfortable, and he can’t relax his mind. Sleep, which used to be easy, has suddenly become hard. He’s feeling tired all the time and struggling to find the energy to do the things he normally does with ease. Join him and Shelly in this short, gentle, sleep-time story. Shelly just LOVES sleep! She has loads of tips and ideas to hel...

Margarita has had a disagreement with her best friend Lina. It’s about a collaborative project; artistic differences (well, we’ve all been there) and Margarita doesn’t know what to do.  Her emotions are all in a spin. Arguing with friends feels so hard. Shelly steps in to offer her advice, but it soon becomes clear that she has unresolved friendship issues of her own. Can they both find...

Barnaby loves to sing. The problem is Barnaby can’t sing, well he can’t yet. His voice is loud and untuneful.  How unfortunate that his year group at school are expected to sing at a very special and important performance. The whole situation is very uncomfortable for him. Luckily, Shelly is on hand to work through the complexities of not being very good at something, an issue we all hav...

Kasia has told a lie and it has put her in a pickle. She didn’t really mean to, it just came out. Now she feels awful that she said something that isn’t true. She struggles to know why she did it, or more pressingly, how to get out of this mess. Luckily Shelly is on standby to help her figure out a way to face up to her lie (and she should know, she’s told a few porkies herself). How will Kasia re...

CONTENT WARNING -This episode contains discussion of divorce. We realise this can look very different for different families. This episode is focused on the theme of change. It explores ways in which the character might approach some of the difficulties change brings.   Joel is going through an upheaval. His parents have just announced their divorce and his life is about to change a lot. He i...

Trudie is fed up with a capital F! Her brother Edwin is so annoying and so are her parents. She is sure they like him better than her, because he is cute and little and he has just got a staring role in the school play. She feels jealous with a capital J. Shelly appears just in time to cool her hot head down and help her look at her problems from another view. She has experienced jealousy herself...

Max is sad. Really sad.  His beloved pet dog Noodles has died and he has some big feelings to process. He feels lost in his grief and unsure which way to turn. Shelly steps in to guide Max through these feelings and explore the complexities of life and death. Will Shelly help Max to see how time can help? How can Max make sure he remembers Noodles? Can you really make lemonade when life...

Emily is in a funk. Do you sometimes feel that way too? Her best friend at school didn’t want to play with her and she feels left out, confused and worried. Luckily for her, Shelly the tortoise is on hand to do what she does best; help kids work though their problems, with demonstrations, music and a whole lot of chat ( ALOT of chat). Will Shelly be able to help Emily see that you can have more th...

Tina is nervous. Really nervous. It’s her turn to do Show and Tell at school and she doesn’t know what to say or do. She is in reception and feels overwhelmed. Fortunately, someone special lives in the garden in her block of flats. It’s a tortoise. A tortoise called Shelly. She is over 100 years old and has wisdom to match her years. She has advice and encouragement galore, plus she likes to sing....

Is your kid bored of listening to you talking about the latest podcast you’ve heard?  Do they want their own podcast to listen to? Do they have problems they need help with?  Well, of course they do, don’t we all. Brought to you by two mothers, who love stories, but can’t bear to just read them aloud to their children, like normal parents, but instead like to spend months recording them,...