A tool to help us sail through life’s uncertainties
Life is never smooth sailing, and each of our personal journeys is unique.
Ups and Downs is a fun conversation-building tool for reflecting on our own journey. The set includes 54 individual cards featuring a little pink person sailing on life’s changing seas in a bathtub.
This set uses the sea as a metaphor for the unpredictability of life and adds humour and poignancy to support conversations about feelings, change and the future. Each card presents scenarios many people will relate to, from the relief of seeing the beam of a lighthouse to the anxiety of watching circling sharks.
Ups and Downs can also be used for a range of fun and informal activities, including breaking the ice, stimulating creative writing and kicking off workshops. The cards can also be used in professional contexts when discussing achievements and challenges.
This resource is suitable for all ages and is a versatile tool for psychologists, counsellors, mental health workers, educators, managers and life coaches.
Suitable for:
- Educators/Schools
- Life coaches
- Child and Family services
- Social and community services
- Health services
Additional resources:
Published by Innovative Resources, 2009
ISBN: 978 1 920945 336
54 full-colour laminated cards, 95mm x 135mm
Polypropylene box and 32-page booklet
Author: Russell Deal
Illustrator: Ray Bowler
Tell us your Story!
(please login!)
Stories and Reviews
Ups and Downs in workshops
‘We use the Ups and Downs cards regularly and they’ve had very frequent use recently in feedback/reflection sessions at the end of most of our workshops. They’re a perfect way to end the session or the day. Participants not only find it easy to identify a card that represents how they’re feeling, but these particular cards are such great fun and elicit a great deal of warmth and laughter in the process.’
– Sue James, BJ Seminars International (Australia)
