About Us

Caring For the Caregiver: Making Sure You Don't Slip Off the Radar Screen

• An upbeat, interactive, and meaningful presentation filled with a variety of simple, accessible stress reduction ideas and techniques for beating burnout ...and real world ways to make time for you and your family. Extensive resource packet. We're worth it!

Laugh & Level with Me: The Power of Play and Humor in Our Leadership Lives

• With some negative stress always being a part of our job, how do we care for the caregiver...for us... for each other? Come join us for an interactive, informative and fun keynote slide presentation on the relationship between "TEAMWORK" (a clear model of what goes into highly effective teams) wellness, and humor in the workplace. A wealth of resources and practical ideas on how organizations around the country are using laughter, play, and humor for staff development, stress reduction, and the creation of a positive work atmosphere. Guaranteed to add more mirth to the earth.

Caretakers of Wonder: A Lighthearted Look at the Power of Play

• Are you overworked and underplayed? Has the fun gone out of your fundamentals? Then travel with us on a humorous keynote journey that explores and celebrates the developmental and health benefits of play that we share each day in a well paced slide presentation of collected cartoons, poems inspirational quotes and images you're bound to recognize.

Modeling Leadership and Best Practices

• An inspirational review that honors school age professionals and identifies key leadership principles and best practices that will help take us to the next level.

Going Beyond: ENHANCING THE WORKPLACE

• In today's world, in particular in the human service arena, it is increasingly important to keep your staff happy and satisfied beyond monetary compensation. This workshop-keynote will help enhance the environment of the workplace through a presentation of eight principles that contribute to the complexity of work and create flow and happiness for employees: clarifying goals, feedback, opportunity, loss of ego, matching challenges with skills, concentration, and control over one's job and time.

ADDITIONAL KEYNOTE TOPICS

• Learning Through the Eyes of the Child

• Children Without Childhood: How to Turn it Around

• Celebrating Each Day... Our Gifts of Nature, Adventure and Play

• Roots and Wings (...and Other Things)

• Together is Better: Gifts of Family Play

• The Power of Play

• Free Play: Creativity and Improvisation in Life and Learning

• Overcoming Hurry Sickness and Urgency Addiction

Communication Essentials for Working with Staff, Parents and Kids

• This interactive workshop details a wide range of training tools, principles and applications for effective communication at all levels. Learn how to apply these communication skills in a wide range of settings.

Totally New Teambuilders

• Learn many new teambuilders you haven't seen yet, with multiple applications for problem solving, conflict resolution, communication, and developing pro-social skills at both the staff and participant levels.

The Best of Cooperative Play -ADVENTURE, INITIATIVE AND PROBLEM SOLVING GAMES FOR ALL AGES

• A lively session presenting an excellent sampling of WIN-WIN activities, games and FUNdamental leadership principles for all ages. Expanded old favorites plus Brand New Adventure games and Teambuilders from the most contemporary sources. Multiple applications for program development, conflict resolution, positive group dynamics and employee teambuilding. Enough challenge and Big Fun for Everyone!

Teamwork 101

• In this interactive, fun, challenging and meaningful workshop learn what goes into healthy high performing teams, what builds and blocks team development, what makes up the subsets of team skills and behaviors... and applications of all of the above.

Caring For the Caregiver: Making Sure You Don't Slip Off the Radar Screen

• An upbeat, interactive, and meaningful workshop filled with a variety of simple, accessible stress reduction ideas and techniques for beating burnout ...and real world ways to make time for you and your family. Extensive resource packet. We're worth it!

Laugh and Level With Me: Breaking Barriers, Tightening Teams, and Cultivating Caring Cooperative Communication...

• Victor Borge once said that laughter is the shortest distance between two people. This workshop will present a sampling of accessible, non-threatening, easily applied, fun and challenging team-building activities. We'll use win-win "games", communication activities, human resource and organizational development materials, and other integrative learning modalities-all designed to enhance our understanding and application of the Team Work model (a clear model of what goes into highly effective teams). The activities have the serious purpose of promoting trust, support, initiative, problem-solving, decision-making, cooperation, ownership and the open exchange of ideas in an upbeat, interactive atmosphere. Includes examples from organizations around the country on how they are using teambuilding, laughter, play, and humor for staff development, stress reduction, and the creation of a positive work atmosphere. Extensive resource packet.

Laugh & Level With Me Two - The Follow-up Next Level of Teambuilding

• A fun series of challenging, accessible, interactive problem solving, initiative and adventure activities designed to analyze the subsets of team effectiveness, team behavior, and team skills in more depth...and of course the application of these subsets in the workplace.

A Common Sense Approach to Discipline

• Principles and proven techniques of common sense discipline, effective communication, conflict management, and active positive assertive leadership. Emphasis on prevention and the proactive creation of positive behavior as well as "when all else fails" strategies. Includes an extensive resource packet of the most contemporary national conflict resolution materials.

Common Sense Discipline: Beyond the Basics

• Topics we never get to cover in our Basic Behavioral Guidance workshop (because we run out of time) including Driekers misplaced goals Communication and other techniques to help diffuse volatile, angry or frustrating situations, effective leader talk, problem solving models and examples, working with parents and other primary caregivers, avoiding power struggles and more. Continued emphasis on proactive prevention. Includes extensive resource packet.

Playful Teaching Practices

• During this era of "drill and grill", accelerated learning, overdrive consumer lifestyles, excessive testing, and a great decrease of play in the early childhood education curriculum, playful teaching practices are sorely needed. In group work, playful teaching practices are essential to relationship building and creating connections for succesful group dynamics. Perhaps most importantly, playful teachers develop positive attitudes in their students and help students understand that learning can be fun and joyful. A range of practical attention getters, team dividers, motivators, transition activities and more.

Working with Parents and Primary Caregivers; Building Positive Relationships

• How do we do our best to get everyone on board to work together for the best interest of the children...A short series of reminders and best practices.

Children and Staff Play (ground) Problems (and some solutions)

• An interactive session featuring a problem solving model. Some possible solutions to typical problems found at your site and followup resources. (i.e. Bullying, Conflict Resolution, Motivation).

Going Beyond: ENHANCING THE WORKPLACE

• In today's world, in particular in the human service arena, it is increasingly important to keep your staff happy and satisfied beyond monetary compensation. This workshop-keynote will help enhance the environment of the workplace through a presentation of eight principles that contribute to the complexity of work and create flow and happiness for employees: clarifying goals, feedback, opportunity, loss of ego, matching challenges with skills, concentration, and control over one's job and time.

Leadership - BEYOND THE BASICS

• This workshop covers the latest in cutting-edge leadership theories and techniques to help leaders and managers of all experience levels develop and motivate their team or group. This fast paced, high energy session will surely add tools to your leadership tool box.

• Ways of Empowering Kids.

• Situational Leadership.

• Understanding Your Groups Needs and Stages of Group Development.

• Practical Applications of Flow Theory: Balancing Challenge, Ability and Fun.

• A Bigger Bag of Tricks

Can't Miss Games and Movement Activities for Small Groups, Mixed Age Groups "Little Ones" and Family (Day Care) Settings

• A treasure chest of proven games, movement activities, and leadership principles for small groups (2 to 15 people) of all ages and mixed age groups (preschool through school age and above).

Can't Miss Games for Older Kids

• A treasure chest of proven games and leadership principles for 8 to 12 year olds (and beyond) that inspire participation and BIG FUN.

The FUN-damentals of Play Leadership: An Interactive Training Program

• Learn essential play leadership techniques using professional training videos, hands on participation and extensive resource materials. Includes promoting physical and psychological safety, developing trust and cooperation and a WIN-Win Playful atmosphere, getting attention, dividing teams, eliminating elimination, modifying activities, nurturing discipline and "can't miss" games for all age groups.

Children Together - Resources for Cooperative Play and Staff - Team Development

• A lively session presenting WIN-WIN activities, games and FUN-damental leadership principles for all ages including applications for families and employee teambuilding. Extensive resource materials.

Super Parachute Play!

• Our best 20+ parachute games and variations. Includes positive leadership and control techniques that inspire participation and BIG FUN!

New Games/Adventure Games Training

• Leadership training, team building, and community/event organizing techniques for New Games, Adventure Games, Cooperative Games, and other progressive, win-win play movements. Includes activities, philosophy, values, resources, and hands-on applications. Great for leaders, trainers and/or players of all abilities who just want to have BIG FUN.

Children Without Childhood: How To Turn It Around

• The economic pressures, profound changes, and acceleration of life in the twenty-first century have negatively impacted Childhood and children at both ends of the economic spectrum. Learn more about the scope of the problem and a wide range of specific proactive solutions. A keynote or workshop presentation.

Helping Kids and Families Cope with Media Madness and Video Games "Addiction"

• Learn more about the impact of TV, computers, video games and other media on our children and families and solutions for restoring balance. Features a short video of media "addicted" kids and families and an extensive solutions resource packet.

Overcoming Hurry Sickness and Urgency Addiction

• In a rapidly accelerating world with seemingly more to do in less time... how do we apply the brakes, prioritize, and restore balance? Learn more about this modern problem and its impact upon individuals, families, and society. Identify proven principles and techniques for deceleration and wellness. A keynote or workshop presentation. Extensive resource packet.

OTHER WORKSHOP TOPICS

• Building a Cooperative, Communicative Win-Win Learning Environment

• Every Kid A Winner: Cultivating Creativity, Diversity and Self Esteem Through Play

• Playing to Learn, Learning to Play

• Fun in the Pool: Aquatic Games and More

• Family Matters: Developing Family and Intergenerational Play Programs for Your Agency and Community

• Challenging Teens Through Games, Adventure, and Relevance

• Why Not Both? Healthy Competition and Cooperation for All

• Targeted Leadership, Activity and Resource Training for Camps, Schools, Businesses, Agencies and Trainers

• Pure Unadulterated Play...For the Time of Your Life

• Adding More Life to Our Years: Play, Laughter and Healthy Aging in the Twenty-First Century