Where Play Meets Purpose
Unlocking Social/Emotional Leaning Through Play to make you and your team stronger
Our “Why”
At the heart of everything we do is our “why.”
We believe so deeply in our purpose that we place it front and center. It guides who we are, what we do, and how we can add to your life worth living.
To teach and support children, parents, and families (through direct instruction, guided practice, and in the moment coaching) how to grow their skills to be mentally balanced, physically fit, and socially flexible, so that they can feel knowledgeable, strong, and resilient as a part of a growing community with a shared purpose of inclusion and participation in helping each other - all with an emphasis on play and exploration through games and activities!
Explore our services
Team Building
Whether you are a school, corporation, or sports team, communication and fluidity of action are key components to reacting to change and accepting complications. We work to develop a strong "why-based" foundation for your team and then offer skills training to augment that message. Once you have a common purpose, the goal is to keep it visible and to use your growing library of skills to take you higher.
Teacher Motivation
Motivating educators begins with recognizing their impact and valuing their voice. When educators feel seen, supported, and empowered, their passion thrives and their dedication deepens. We offer opportunities to collaborate with staff to meet your team where they are rather than feeding them, what can feel like, forced professional development. We steer away from blaming burnout or societal factors and lean into finding individual's and team's "why statements" to re-ignite purpose and innovation.
Parent Training
We believe in universal language and using skills everywhere, everyday, to build strong habits and help people live their life worth living. By offering our skills training to parent groups we hope to bring skillful living home so that your family can feel more successful and that this success translates to wherever you go.
Social Emotional Learning
We believe strongly that social-emotional learning doesn't just happen through reading or presentations. It is - an everyday, all day, part of your day - process. We start by introducing universal language and strategies, then providing regular opportunities to practice those techniques. Our sessions can be limited to individual staff members, the classroom, or involve concentric circles of influence that include school staff and parents.
Teacher Training
Teachers need tools to not only impact their students and help set classroom routines, but also structures and strategies to help themselves. We access proven techniques from research-based programs and help teachers bring those tools into their rooms, so that they are accessed and employed and not simply filed away. Teaching is a dynamic process, which demands tools that are used to discover potential and not only potentially used.
Personal Consultation
Living a life worth living starts with you and a commitment to wanting to be your best self. We offer skills training, opportunities to practice, and in-the-moment coaching to help you reach personal objectives and identify where your next goals can send you.
Classroom Brain-breaks
Want ideas for activities to help your students recharge during the day? Looking for ways to grow your morning meeting or closing circle into a memorable part of the day for everyone? Mindfulness activities, energizers, exploration opportunities? We have a few...well a lot...of ideas.
Camp Staff Training
Camp staffs have a challenging job. Build connections and rapport with campers quickly, help them manage their emotion reactions and behaviors while outside the parameters of a traditional classroom, all while trying to stay connected to the experience offered by the camp. We offer training to help prepare your staff for how to make connections quickly and engage with campers proactively to increase enjoyment at camp and limit time away from the unique experiences camp can offer.
Parent\Teacher Collaboration
Your school's PTA is a wonderful opportunity to establish, or build on, your school's culture. We often hear, we don't know what speakers or activities to bring in. Not only can we design sessions for during or after school presentations, but we can help construct lasting school initiatives that incorporate connection, support for one another, positive modeling, and chances to strengthen your community.
Habit Formation
Strong habits build strong results. You don't need to be superhuman to create amazing outcomes. Everyday success starts with understanding good habits, how to start them, and how to develop them into your day naturally.
Birthday Parties
You read that correctly. Birthday Parties. At the core of our mission is a dedication to play as an exploration method or as an instructional strategy. We humans love to play. Our games and activities are designed to create structured, engaging fun that leaves kids saying, “That was the best party ever!” We hope to bring skillful living home so that your family can feel more successful and that this success translates to wherever you go.
Interested in collaborating?
Don’t hesitate! Reach out! We’d love the opportunity to talk to you, and design a way that we can support you or your team where you are.
Get to
know us
Monkey Minds is the collaboration between Bryan Donnelly, a fifth grade teacher in Redding Connecticut, and Jeff Lovelace, a school psychologist and BCBA in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
The term “Monkey Mind” has been around for thousands of years to describe how our minds can jump from the past to multiple futures all while rarely, or not at all, stopping in the present moment. When our thoughts jump around like a monkey, we are often unsettled.
Our core goal has been to bring mindful awareness to this phenomenon, and teach strategies to help manage your monkey mind, all while staying playful and exploring the wide world around you!