Can Bears and Meerkats be Friends?

Posted: 10/05/2022

Maybe not in the wilds of nature, but in the wild world of our feelings many unexpected things can go together. Look inside on any typical day and you may notice a swirling mix of emotions and body signals. The limitations of language mean …Read more

A Gathering of HIPPYs

Posted: 31/10/2019

It can be tempting to think that education begins when kids go to school, but in fact it is through play at home in the early years that the very foundations of life-long learning are laid. This is one of the foundations of the …Read more

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Posted: 29/10/2019

Rainbow Talk:  40 cards for LGBTIQ-Inclusive Conversations Excitement levels are high this week at Innovative Resources—the Rainbow Talk cards and booklet are off the press and in the house. Right now as this newsletter is finding its way to you, the cards are all …Read more

Everyone Deserves Respect: Rainbow Talk

Posted: 03/09/2019

  Diversity enriches our community by … Everyone’s body is different, therefore … A gender stereotype I have experienced is … These are just three of the forty cards from Rainbow Talk, a resource for opening up respectful conversations and storytelling about diversity—particularly in …Read more

The Power of Vulnerability and Trust in the Classroom

Posted: 25/07/2019

Lillian Daley, a Grade 6 teacher in Darwin—the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory—writes about the power of vulnerability and trust in the classroom. I first came across Innovative Resources when I was a pre-service teacher completing a placement at a school for disengaged …Read more

Directing Traffic in Schools

Posted: 22/07/2019

Thinking of ourselves as a car can be a very useful thing to do. Clean and green with zero emissions, of course. Or maybe not. Depends on the fuel you are putting in your tank, the junk in the trunk, the road you take …Read more

What is Social & Emotional Literacy?

Posted: 13/05/2019

You could say that social and emotional literacy is the heroic journey from the amygdala to the frontal lobe. A very short distance when measured in terms of the physical brain but a life-long journey in terms of developing impulse control, building respectful relationships, …Read more

Gender Equity in the Early Years: Why Is It Important?

Posted: 22/11/2018

Creating gender equity plays a significant role in preventing violence against women and children. Early childhood educators have an important part to play in modelling equal and respectful relationships; through curriculum, learning environments and interactions with children. The early years are a critical time …Read more

Furious! Helping Children Manage Anger

Posted: 22/11/2018

You’ve probably heard of fight, flight or freeze—the brain’s primal response to threat that floods our system with a cocktail of chemicals to help us react and keep safe. More recently ‘flop’ and ‘be-friend’ have been added to this list. Now, that’s a tidy …Read more

Body Signals®—Signposts for Feelings

Posted: 26/10/2018

Our body signals are the gateway to recognising, interpreting and managing our feelings. That is why Body Intelligence (BQ) is such a fundamental aspect of developing Emotional Intelligence (EQ). There are times when each of us, no matter how skilled we may be, has …Read more

Body Signals®: Wisdom from Within

Posted: 26/09/2018

Our body communicates its wisdom to us long before our conscious mind can get a word in.  That’s why body signals are sometimes called our ‘early warning signs’, and they are an important key to staying safe, and building social and emotional wellbeing. How …Read more

The Languages of Apology

Posted: 04/05/2018

Have you ever said sorry to someone, and yet you know they have not experienced your apology as authentic? Somehow your sincere apology did not land. This may be more likely to happen when the offence is perceived as a grave one. But it …Read more

What’s different about the new edition of Reflexions?

Posted: 09/04/2018

If you are a youth worker, counsellor, mentor, teacher, chaplain or welfare coordinator in a school, chances are you’ve come across the Reflexions cards somewhere along the line. You may even have a set kicking around in your tool bag of resources. A new …Read more

The Importance of Play

Posted: 06/03/2018

  In Play Together Learn Together, an ebook launched at Broadmeadows Women’s Community House late last month, author Genine Clements writes passionately about the primary importance of play. ‘It is widely understood from decades of research and academia that a child learns through play,’ …Read more

Going Ahead in Tweaks and Bounds

Posted: 24/05/2017

Central to all models of life coaching is the belief that people have a capacity to change their own lives. This capacity can be diminished or constrained by many factors, both internal and external to the person. Change can come from many different places, …Read more

Reflexions – a Tool for Young People

Posted: 24/05/2017

‘The value of Reflexions is found in its ability to build … conversations in new and existing directions.’(Reflexions booklet, p8) Innovative Resources’ cards can act as ‘conversational prompts’. That is, when used in conversations with other people, they can suggest pathways of communication that …Read more