Some children and young adolescents find it much harder to learn and flexibly use social skills. They can struggle with making friends, joining in, reading others' feelings, bouncing back constructively following an upset, coping with put-downs or just dealing appropriately with day to day frustrations. "What's the Buzz?" is an easy-to-implement, 16 lesson play-based social skills training program that will improve student confidence, relationships and reduce conflict. Written for teachers who support children and adolescents who may struggle with life for a variety of reasons, this book will help them to: expand their socialisation skills, for example, 'how-to' meet people and be friendly, gain attention in positive ways, follow instructions, give compliments and maintain conversations; understand their feelings and develop an emotional resiliency to better cope with the inevitable emotional highs and lows life offers; learn 'how-to' read the feelings of others and appropriately respond to their needs; value positive thinking, for example, how-to stay calm under pressure, deal with worry, handle disappointment and best respond to put-downs and bullying; and, participate in play-based activities and games, so that they acquire skills incidentally. Designed for use in schools by teachers, school counsellors, special needs co-ordinators, teaching assistants, parents and allied health professionals, the role plays, games and team building activities presented in each lesson will help to build class unity and cohesion, whilst the template format allows students to experience success, feel confident and be ready to develop more complex skills.

About the Author

Mark Le Messurier is an educator, counsellor, author and conference presenter. He works in private practice and in schools supporting teachers and students, and is a recipient of the prestigious Australian National Excellence in Teaching Award. www.marklemessurier.com.au Madhavi Nawana Parker is a behaviour consultant in private practice for children with Asperger Syndrome, Attention Disorders and Learning Difficulties and regularly presents training workshops throughout Australia for parents, teachers and allied health professionals. www.madhavinawana.com.au

Table of Contents

About the Authors A quick guide to the games Introduction Practical considerations for implementation as a small group initiative or a whole class strategy Photocopiable and Online Resources Lesson 1: meeting people and exiting Lesson 2: getting attention Lesson 3: following instructions Lesson 4: being friendly Lesson 5: competition, winning and losing Lesson 6: identifying feelings Lesson 7: feelings; the warning signs Lesson 8: feelings and thinking positively Lesson 9: feelings; ideas to create wellbeing Lesson 10: empathy, responding to others Lesson 11: handling worry Lesson 12: dealing with disappointment Lesson 13: responding to bullying behaviours Lesson 14: the connecting art of conversation Lesson 15: learning to 'fit in' Lesson 16: giving and receiving compliments References