Dancers from Queensland Ballet in West End will have special appearances in the Humphrey B. Bear’s series of free educational videos and resources created by Monash University’s AllPlay team.
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Queensland Ballet is among AllPlay’s ambassadors who will be featured in the series, along with AllPlay Dancers and AFL Disability League.
This series, which stars the iconic Humphrey B. Bear was launched with an aim to help educators and parents support children of all ages and abilities to regulate their emotions through movement and better settle back into school life.
It includes a music and dance collaboration of original songs and music videos for children with disabilities to be released in AllPlay and AllPlay Learn.
The series kicks off with three songs and videos: ‘Angry Pixie Stomp’, ‘Shake My Blues Away’ and ‘So Calm’ feature original music compositions by Corinne Gibbons, lyrics by Julie Greene, production by FIKA Entertainment.
Professor Nicole Rinehart, Director of Research at Monash University’s Krongold Clinic and founder of the AllPlay program, highlights how research shows that emotion regulation through movement and labelling is a simple but effective way of helping kids build resilience and coping skills.
According to Monash University, 1 in 6 children in Australia experiences developmental challenges or disabilities which can impact how they participate in school.
“Humphrey B. Bear has always been a leader when it comes to inclusion. He loves exploring, creating, playing, learning and giving anything a go. Humphrey was the perfect choice to be the face of music videos that can help children understand their emotions and recognise them in themselves and others,” says Professor Rinehart.
AllPlay Learn takes a strengths-based approach to disability and turns this into tools and strategies that everyone can access.
“Ten years ago, we set out to change the status quo for children with disabilities. Thanks to our great partnerships and research funding partners, we have made significant progress towards our goal to make the world fit for all kids,” says Professor Rinehart.
The resources, which include movement cards aside from videos, can be viewed at https://allplay.org.au/humphrey-b-bear/.
