Playful Minds

11/03/2022

15/10/2021

Watch the recording of our Happy Schools Forum: in a Environment with the brilliant Kati Taunt.

Where we learn more about trauma informed practice and how it can be harnessed to support our pupils' wellbeing after the lockdown and school closures.

https://www.bookofbeasties.com/post/video-trauma-informed-care-practice-in-a-school-environment

Join us for the Happy Schools Forum as we learn more about trauma informed practice and how it can be harnessed to support our pupils' wellbeing after the lockdown and school closures.

12/10/2021

Book Of Beasties is hosting The Happy Schools Forum: Trauma Informed Practice in a School Environment with, Trauma Informed Practice specialist, Kati Taunt today at 4pm.

Last chance to book you place via the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-schools-forum-trauma-informed-practice-in-a-school-environment-tickets-184228912637

Come together with a network of educators as we take a look at mitigating the impact of the pandemic on our pupils wellbeing.

06/10/2021

Our Forum: 'Trauma Informed Practice in a School Environment' is less than a week away.

We are pleased to announce that Kati Taunt will be our guest expert speaker for the event.

🗣 Kati Taunt is a leading specialst and one of only two licensed ARC (Attachment, Regulation and Competency) trainers outside of the United States.

She has been working with and local initiatives to bring trauma informed practice into an for the past 15 years.

Don't miss your chance to find out how to mitigate the impact of the on your pupils and receive some complimentary resources.

Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-schools-forum-trauma-informed-practice-in-a-school-environment-tickets-184228912637

24/09/2021

A headline we are seeing over and over again. Children need and deserve so much better than this.

"
🟥 Data found one in five children seen in the past year waited over 12 weeks for care.

🟨 The situation has got so bad that parents and head teachers told the BBC they had lost faith in the system.

🟩 Doctors reported distressed children were ending up at A&E as they had no where else to go.
"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58565067

BBC investigation finds children in England face "agonising" waits in pandemic to access services.

08/09/2021

🚨🚨GREAT NEWS 🚨🚨

Due to the incredible response we received from and we have decided to extend our campaign until the end of September.

So if you know a school that you think would benefit from receiving Book Of Beasties' support, then you can nominate them below.

We look forward to welcoming you to the family.

https://www.bookofbeasties.com/500-smiles

Our 500 Smiles Crusade will see us provide up to 500 of the most deserving Schools in London with our award winning Mental Wellness Card Game, CPD training and ongoing support for free. All you have to do is nominate your school here. (We will consider schools outside of London as well.)

02/09/2021

Mental Health advocate and Mind Charity President, Stephen Fry has appealed to ministers to set up a network of walk-in mental health centres for children and young people.

This would offer hubs at which children can benefit from support without the need of referral from a doctor or school.

Research from Mind looking into the mental wellbeing impact of the pandemic found that young people have been hit the hardest. Highlighting the need for improved supports.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of children accessing mental health services in England increase by almost 70,000 to 305,802 in February 2021, indicating a worsening crisis that may only get worse if not addressed immediately.

Some initial thoughts:

🟩 It could reduce the numbers of CAMHS referrals, take the strain off of the service
🟪 May encourage more children and young people to seek help as walk in centres are possibly less conspicuous

But…

🔵 Where would the mental health workers come from, that could just go towards better supporting CAMHS services?
🟡 If there is a budget for improving mental health supports, would it not be better to put towards improving existing solutions rather than introducing a whole new structure?

If you felt in crisis would you choose a walk-in centre over a GP or another more traditional support system?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/31/stephen-fry-in-plea-for-walk-in-mental-health-hubs-for-youths-hit-by-pandemic

Actor calls for a network of centres at which children and young people could get help without a referral

27/08/2021

TODAY'S THE DAY 🥳

Join us at 4pm for Book of Beasties forum: Supporting Mental into the New Term.

Here's a sneak peak at what we will be discussing:

🔴 Mental wellness in the New Term
🔵 Mental wellness and
🟢 Mental wellness and
🟣 Open chat to share ideas, plans and ask questions
🟡 Receive a free resource to use with your pupils.

There's still time to book 👇🏾
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-schools-forum-tickets-166951308859

25/08/2021

The “Supporting into the New Term” Book Of Beasties forum us just a few days away.

Meet the speakers:

Trixie will be sharing her insights into how to effectively support children’s and her thoughts, plans and ideas about how you can create a happy school environment not just for the pupils but for your colleagues as well.

Trixie will be joined by Emily Edwards, Practitioner (and mother to ‘a young ADHDer’). Emily will be sharing her professional and personal experiences on how forest school initiatives can have a positive impact on mental-wellbeing alongside how the impact of the pandemic on adults is having a knock on effect on our pupils.

Sign up now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-schools-forum-tickets-166951308859

23/08/2021

The August Talk and Play day is this Friday.

A day where we encourage everyone to take the time to play a game and chat to each other about their day.

You can share your Talk and Play days with us and Book Of Beasties using the hashtag to help us spread the word about the importance of play to good mental health for our children.

It just so happens that this month's Talk and Play Day falls on the same day as our webinar "Supporting Mental Wellbeing Into the New Term".

🗣 Hear from guest speakers
💚 Receive some free resources to help support your pupils
🙋🏽‍♀️ Share your thoughts, wellness ideas and plans for the new term.

Join free here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-happy-schools-forum-tickets-166951308859?fbclid=IwAR1GuuE5S4jZ925pyN8iVAZIztoCkbRGAcF3VpjX4uloUziD48zydJdMyN0

Come together with a network of educators as we take a look at the children’s mental health landscape leading into Autumn term.

11/08/2021

BLOG POST: Ethical innovation and how creating for children is not child’s play

Director of Development and co-founder of Book Of Beasties, Phil Tottman recently reached out to his network to ask; “when does playful learning become just learning?"

And the responses from some true powerhouses in the children's content creation megaverse were so brilliant, we simply had to write it up.

This makes for a really insightful read for anyone who does or is thinking of creating for kids.

https://www.bookofbeasties.com/post/ethical-innovation-and-how-creating-for-children-is-not-childs-play

We reached out for industry expert opinion on how to create an ideal and impactful playful learning experience. And this is what we discovered.

30/07/2021

Today is Talk and Play day, which is our dedicated time to sit down with our friends and family to play a game, and talk about our day.

Feel free to share your own talking and playing sessions using the hashtag , to encourage others to spend this much needed quality time together.

This event is part of our Playful Minds campaign, which is calling on the Government to increase funding and implement a strategy to help parents and teachers improve children's mental health.

14/07/2021

Talk and Play Day is Back!

The is upon us, which means children will be spending more time at home again, and away from the wellbeing supports that school offers them.

Meaning it is all the more important to make sure we are checking in, even if we are seeing them every single day!

And what better opportunity to talk about how we are feeling, or how our day is going than over a game, or whilst doing something fun.

Join us and Book Of Beasties as we get chatty and playful.
Share your play experiences with us and show your support for better through .

Day Friday 30th July (and the last Friday of every month)

12/07/2021

When we launched our 500 Smiles Crusade in March, which gave the chance to be nominated to receive free support from Book Of Beasties, helping pupils tackle the impact the pandemic has had on their , we did not expect such an incredible response.

We had schools all around the country, even as far as the U.S and Dubai reach out, and we are still working through those nominations.

Book of Beasties is solely dedicated to supporting children and young people's mental health the way they know best, through the magic of , storytelling and ... But we're not stopping here:

There is still time to nominate your school, and help us bring the smiles back into the (link in the comments).
500x😊

23/06/2021

Is your school ready to support pupil mental health in the Autumn term?

There is just a month left to nominate your school to become part of our 500 Smiles Crusade.

Our Crusade, which is all part of the Playful Minds campaign already helping hundreds of schools and thousands of children around the UK by providing them with free support and approved .

This opportunity will close at the end of term.

Workshops will be running every Thursday at 4 pm and over the Summer if you would like to join us for some summer fun and be ready to support your pupils’ mental health in the Autumn term.

Use , story telling and to raise emotional literacy, teach resilience, build empathy and encourage the open, and positive conversation about mental health.

Link in the comments 👇🏾 x500☺️