Happy Habits offers an array of uniquely practical programs, steeped in current scientific research, which are highly interactive so that young people have fun whilst they learn about themselves and others through play, through stories, through games and in role.
Please click the program posters below for more information!
Mime Time (Kinder - Gr 10)
Helping young people explore the power of non-verbal communication, whilst learning from the pioneers of the craft of mime.
In an atmosphere of fun and purpose participants create their very own ‘Mime Time’ production. Through games and play the participants practice communicating without words using facial expression, gestures, eye gaze, body language and posture. Whilst learning skills from pioneers in the artistry of mime, such as, Charlie Chaplin and Marcel Marceau, as well as, modern day mimes, such as, Mr Bean, they learn how non-verbal communication makes up for about two thirds of all communication.
This silent form of performance can have surprising social, emotional and cognitive benefits for participants. Through the lively activities’ participants learn to experiment with skills and techniques which will support them to communicate more meaningfully in real life situations.
- Make good first impressions
- Realise the power of non-verbal communication
- Enhance your confidence in making eye contact
- Understand what cues and emotions look like
- Gain skills to reinforce or modify what you are saying
- Regulate your flow of communication.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary School and High School aged participants (Kinder- Grade 10) and is ideal for schools looking for a production outcome where ALL participants can flourish and experience success.
A popular program for participants with English as an additional language and students with additional needs.
Scripts and Skits (Kinder - Gr 8)
Helping young people explore the dynamic craft of drama, introducing them to a world of wonder and play.
The Scripts and Skits program is an excellent way for young actors to start out. Through games and play, participants explorethe dynamic craft of drama, introducing them to a world of wonder and play. Through puppet play, dressing up, circus apparatus, actingout skits,to exploring different characters and scenarios,this program encourages playful creativity and critical thinking. Participantsenjoy learning how to be creative, as creativity, is an acquiredbehaviour - learnable, teachable, tangible and crucial to their development. The participants relish the opportunity to make newfriendships, as this program provides support and common ground for peerrelationships to flourish.
- Enhance your self-esteem andconfidence
- Make new friends
- Learn the skills of listening,negotiating and communicating
- Increase your ability to thinkcreatively, imaginatively and divergently
- Understand more about emotions andhow to express them
- Learn how to give feedback and takefeedback on board
This inclusive program isdifferentiated for both Primary School and High School aged participants(Kinder- Grade 8). This is a programwhere all students have the opportunity to flourish and is a popular programfor participants with English as an additional language and students with additionalneeds.Helping young people explore the dynamic craft of drama, introducing them to a world of wonder and play.
Shake Up Shakespeare (Gr 4- Gr 10)
Helping young people fall in love with the characters, rich language and stories of Shakespeare.
Participants of all ages will fall in love with the characters and rich language of Shakespeare as they enjoy exploring the world of magic, witches, silly mix-ups and swordplay in some of the greatest stories ever told! In this program participants have fun discovering the parallels between the world of Shakespeare’s plays and their own contemporary experience, as many of the basic themes, such as, love, loss, betrayal, war, humour and tragedy, still resonate today giving Shakespeare a foothold in modern times.
Participants play drama games, develop fundamental acting skills and transform into Shakespeare’s characters through voice and movement work. They unravel themes with text analysis and work towards putting on a Shakespeare inspired performance with a potential modern twist.
- Enhance your vocabulary and feel accomplished as you begin to
- unravel and decode Shakespeare’s difficult language and style
- Joyfully discover the irony, images, rhythm and literary devices
- as you dramatically play with Shakespeare’s works
- Take Shakespeare’s common stories and themes from popular culture and work cooperatively and collaboratively to add your own modern twist
- Develop empathy as you begin to understand characters, roles and subtext
- Enhance your self-confidence as you learn to appraise situations,
- think outside the box and be more confident going into unfamiliar situations
- Discover talents you didn’t know you had…
- This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary Schools and High School aged participants (Grade 4- Grade 10) and is suitable for schools looking for a mini production outcome where ALL participants can flourish and experience success.
Helping young people fall in love with the characters, rich language and stories of Shakespeare.
It’s All Greek to Me (Gr 3 - Gr 10)
Helping young people create their own play as they enjoy examining comedy, tragedy, gods and heroes.
Greek theatre has survived through the ages as a powerful and influential art form. In this program participants have loads of fun, unleashing their talents as they are given space for self-expression, group synergy and imagination as they work towards putting on a Greek play. Each lesson they will have fun exploring the style of their Greek play and examining; the theatre space, the purpose of the chorus, the actor’s role, the translation and the representation of the gods and heroes.
Along the journey participants may realise talents they might not even know they have, whether it be, acting, singing, designing costumes, sets, or lighting ….. they will never know until they try!
- Relish the opportunity of being a member of a team working towards a shared goal
- Grow your creativity as you stretch your limits to test your imagination and prowess
- Be cooperative as you combine the creative ideas and abilities of all your cast
- Develop empathy as you begin to understand characters, roles and the subtext of plays
- Learn to communicate clearly in discussions, feedback, rehearsal, and as a performer
- Cultivate your ability to focus your mind, body and voice to; memorise lines, expand your vocal projection, articulation, tone of speech and expression.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary Schools and High School aged participants (Grade 3- Grade 10) and is suitable for schools looking for a mini production outcome where ALL participants can flourish and experience success.
This program is particularly popular with males.
Comedy for Coping (Gr 3 - Gr 10)
Helping young people to nurture their self-confidence through games, synergy challenges, role-play, music and movement.
This is an action-packed program full of fun warm ups, synergy challenges, role-play, improvisation games, music and movement. This program will provide opportunities for young people to flourish in a fun environment designed to grow and nurture self-confidence.
Some young people limit how involved they become with people or turn down invitations and social events as they feel uncomfortable. They worry about being the centre of attention or blushing and looking nervous. Some have difficulty stating their opinion, speaking in public or fear being embarrassed or looking stupid in front of others.
This program brings elements of play, humour, and laughter to those taking part, aiming to improve their motivation and reduce their stress. The drama games in this program nurture the participants spontaneity and their ability to 'think on their feet’, instilling creativity and self-expression as well as nourishing their imagination.
- Grow your comfort in participating in new activities
- Gain confidence in speaking up and speaking out
- Expand your team development know-hows
- Progress in your decision-making potential
- Refine your brainstorming capabilities
- Grow your creative-thinking abilities.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary School and High School aged participants (Grade 3- Grade 10). It is a suitable program for young people with mild to moderate social anxiety or fear of public speaking, to help them manage symptoms and reduce avoidance behaviours in social, school and family settings.
Dance Mash Up (Gr 1 – Gr10)
Helping young people gain social skills, confidence, coordination, balance and fitness whilst learning an array of dance styles to modern pop music.
When people have trouble approaching strangers or relating to people in social situations, social dancing can help conquer some of those fears. This program is designed to help young people gain social skills, confidence, coordination, balance and fitness whilst learning an array of dance styles to modern pop music.
Participants widen their social circle as they create connections and collaborate with their peers to create a dance mash up performance. The participants raise their endorphin levels, elevate their mood, and de-stress whilst having fun learning to dance. Whether they’ve only danced secretly in their bedroom, or are an avid dancer, this program will ignite their passion for dance.
- Improve your balance, coordination, strength, posture and spatial awareness
- Enjoy the freedom of expression with tools to create your very own dance
- Enhance your social interactions and conquer shyness
- Combat stress and improves self-confidence
- Improve your physical health and fitness
- Widen your social circle.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary School and High School aged participants (Grade 1- Grade 10) and is suitable for schools looking for a mini production outcome where ALL participants can flourish and experience success.
Musical Medley (Gr 3 - Gr10)
Helping young people express themselves through singing, dancing and acting scenes from popular musicals.
In this program the participants have fun creating their very own Musical Theatre Medley, comprising of scenes, songs and dance numbers from popular musicals. The participants have fun, whilst they gain vital acting, communication and interpersonal skills through drama games and exercises.
Musical Theatre can transport its participants to another world, where the music compels them to tell stories, sing, dance and act. The music in musical theatre is a powerful way to tell stories, to inspire and to teach strong lasting messages. It fosters a social awareness through exposure to the social issues, events and cultures portrayed in the scripts.
- Grow your perseverance and problem-solving capabilities as you see your mini production through from conception to performance
- Get into a state of creative ‘flow’, where your mind enters an optimal state of consciousness where you can feel and perform your best
- Develop confidence and a can-do attitude by being part of a collaborative endeavour
- Revel in the release of endorphins as you sing and dance to enhance your
- mood and reduce your stress
- Improve your communication, social interaction and performance skills
- Develop your coordination, concentration and memory.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both Primary Schools and High School aged participants (Grade 3- Grade 10) and is suitable for schools looking for a mini production outcome where ALL participants can flourish and experience success.
A popular program for schools wanting to create a student performance for their school community or ‘Leavers Presentation Evening’.
Monologue (Differentiated for students & adults)
Helping individuals deconstruct text to devise their very own solo performance.
Monologues are one of the ultimate forms of theatrical expression. When delivered with skill, precision, and passion, they thrill audiences and deeply satisfy artists. However, performers are often overwhelmed by the undertaking of performing solo and can become paralysed by the task at hand. Overcome with nerves, actors are often unable to grow their characters beyond memorising their lines and can’t get out of their own bodies to physicalise characters. It can be nerve-wracking to perform in front of others, especially in a competitive environment and so this program teaches the participants what they need to do to overcome fears and stand on stage with more confidence. Rather than being inhibited by the nerves that seem to control them, they will learn and practice strategies to calm their mind and their body.
Whether this is a performer’s first attempt at a monologue or they’re developing their audition toolbox, this program will guide participants on a journey of exploration in how to select, deconstruct, memorise, rehearse and refine their very own monologue for performance. Ultimately, the program helps actors to develop the confidence to sell their ‘two minutes’ with everything they can muster, so they can deliver their best performance.
- Discover an age appropriate role that you can truly get inside of and relate to
- Learn how to use empathy from your own experiences to develop character
- Explore how to deconstruct your monologue to understand the text and subtext
- Discern who your character is talking to and why they are speaking
- Begin to transcend the text beyond just words on a page
- Learn techniques to manage your performance nerves.
This program is differentiated for both students and adult performers.
It is suitable for schools and individuals looking to create a performance piece or grow their audition toolbox.
Readers Theatre (Gr3 - Gr7)
Helping young people with reading skills and confidence as they enjoy reading along and reading aloud with a purpose.
Readers Theatre is a great way to engage young people in reading and gives students a real reason to read aloud and read along. In Readers Theatre young people do not need to memorise their lines. The participants simply read scripts and stories and focus on using vocal expression to help their audience understand the story, rather than using visual storytelling, such as; sets, costumes, intricate blocking and movement. Readers Theatre is fun and can motivate reluctant readers to read along and provide fluent readers the opportunity to explore genre and characterisation.
In Readers Theatre the participants read in small groups which provides reading role models which aides their reading skills. The participants thrive in having the opportunity to choose the characters that they are comfortable to express. It’s a strategy that combines reading practice and performing and its goal is to enhance young people’s reading skills and confidence by having them practice reading with a purpose.
The acting out of the dialogue causes readers to work more closely with the text to interpret and project meaning into their reading experience. Consequently, the participants gain improvement in reading fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and retention all whilst they have fun deconstructing poems, stories, legends myths and scripts.
- Get creative with making character voices
- Bolster your reading fluency as you practice reading along and reading aloud
- Grow your vocabulary and word choices as you practice using words in context
- Use grammar and punctuation as clues for how a character might say a word or a line
- Develop empathy as you enjoy interpreting what characters may be thinking and feeling
- Revel in learning about social issues and conflicts from cultures past and present in exciting texts
This inclusive program is differentiated for Primary School students with varying reading experience (Grade 3- Grade 7).
Stage Ready (Differentiated for students & adults)
Helping theatre companies nurture their participants wellbeing throughout their theatre journey.
This program is designed to prepare performers for their theatre journey, from prepping for an audition and managing the competitive waiting room, all the way to combatting post show blues. This program is all about ‘fun and focused warm ups to support theatre lovers and their wellbeing. The games and guided meditations offer tools to help performers relax and focus their mind, body and energy positively and productively so that they are ready for each rehearsal and performance.
There is a lot of tension inherent in meeting multiple deadlines, collaborating with a team, and performing in front of people, and so a lot of theatre training involves cultivating awareness and practicing relaxation. In this program participants are taken through a series of guided mediations and warm ups that support them with coping with the various stages of theatre life.
‘Stage ready’ helps you lead your company to greater health, relationships and productivity. It will help you banish the cliques and foster a wellbeing culture where the members of your cast and crew learn to connect and unite as a team. As your company’s wellbeing begins to flourish, you will notice less absenteeism and less stress. Instead, your team can take explicitly taught skills to help them work more joyfully and collaboratively towards your shared common goal and vision of your production.
- Understand how to recognise your stress responses and learn techniques to combat stress
- Learn how to prepare for an audition and cope with the competitive waiting room
- Cope with casting and bounce back from rejection and any disappointment
- Banish the cliques and connect with all members of your cast and crew
- Let go of your character at the end of rehearsals and performances
- Use visualisations to help you to develop character arc
- Develop strategies to help with any stage fright or jitters.
This inclusive program is differentiated for high school/college students and professional actors.
Bounce (Differentiated for students & adults)
In this program participants will learn to identify their stressors, understand their stress response and develop their own unique strategies for bouncing back from challenges and bouncing forward to the life they want to lead. For many, stress management translates to relaxation. But, the flip side of stress is not relaxation but rather resilience.
In this program participants enjoy having the opportunity for relaxation, reflection, rejuvenation, rediscovery and renewal. They learn how to build their psychological resources so that they can grow their resiliency and utilise their skills and strengths to bounce back from problems and challenges.
Through the guided meditations and activities, participants not only learn about strategies to decrease their stress and improve their wellbeing, but they are immersed in continual practice of techniques that will help them discover positive coping strategies that fit their unique personality and style.
- Learn how you can respond and not react in situations
- Integrate unique self-care and wellbeing strategies that suit your personality and style
- Practice quick stress relieving strategies that you can implement in your day to day life
- Discern good stress from bad stress and discover how to detect your stress response
- Through guided meditation internalise and visualise your dreams and goals
- Practice positive self-talk and learn how to cultivate a growth mindset.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both young people (grade 4+) and adults. It is suitable for schools, companies and organisations looking to support and grow the wellbeing of their team. This is a popular professional learning workshop for leaders looking for a relaxing and informative workshop that will help foster connection and positive culture in their organisation.Helping schools, teams and organisations learn strategies to relieve stress, bounce back from challenges and bounce forward to the life they want to lead.
Wonder Women (Gr3 - Gr8)
Helping girls develop a stronger positive identity.
In this highly interactive program participants will have fun whilst they learn about themselves and others through play, through stories, through meditation, through games and in role. In this program the participants focus on developing active respect in their peer relationships, learning how to be a good friend and how to navigate the complexity of friendship.
In each session participants will be explicitly taught how to cultivate positive states and mental capacity with a good hearted and generous spirit through meditation and mindfulness practice. Each meditation will help them learn about stress and its causes and will allow them to practice positive coping strategies.
Participants will be introduced to the concept of self-talk and will enact positive and negative self-talk in role, without the drawbacks that such experimentation could lead to in the real world. From learning about mindsets (‘Fixed Mindset /Growth Mindset’) they are encouraged to be aspirational in knowing that they can grow and change. Participants begin to become empowered as they learn how their brain works, about the mind body connection and as they develop the knowledge that they can change how they think, feel and act.
- Learn to be a ‘strength spotter’ so you can discover strengths in yourself and others
- Practice meditation and mindfulness to help you experience more calmness and peace
- Play emotion games to learn how emotions affect behaviour
- Learn about creating a mindset that will help you achieve your goals
- In a safe space discover solutions you can use to support you with your friendships
- Widen your social circle as you laugh, learn, play and bond with other girls.
This inclusive program is specifically for girls and is differentiated for both Primary Schools and High School aged participants (Grade 3- Grade 8).
Mindfulness & Massage
(Differentiated for very young students to adults)
Helping people learn how to relax and self-regulate.
In this program participants enjoy taking time to practice mindfulness, guided meditations, progressive muscle relaxation and massage techniques to help them learn how to relax, relieve stress and self-regulate their emotions. They uncover how massage and mindfulness can help them to experience more calmness and peace in their lives.
Participants enjoy peaceful workshops which are all about supporting their wellbeing and teaching them about their mind and body connection. Participants learn how to relax and relieve muscle tension as they are explicitly taught massage techniques and through mindfulness training, they learn how to live presently, increase their self-awareness, savour moments and experience more joy in their lives.
- Use massage and mindfulness to develop more balance and less emotional volatility
- Become more connected to yourself, to others and to the world around you
- Be explicitly taught how to give yourself a shoulder, neck and face massage
- Learn how to give someone a hand massage and a seated massage
- Begin to develop more self-acceptance and compassion
- Relieve stress and experience more peacefulness.
This inclusive program is differentiated for both young people and adults.
This is a popular program for schools looking to enhance the wellbeing of their students. It is also a sought-after professional learning wellbeing session for leaders looking for a relaxing, educational and enjoyable session for their team.
Laughter Yoga
(Differentiated for very young students to adults)
Helping people enhance their mood and relationships all whilst having fun sharing laughter.
Laughter Yoga workshops are an enjoyable and dynamic team building activity for your school, company or workplace. Participants have loads of fun as they laugh themselves into a positive frame of mind and an improved sense of wellbeing. Through sharing laughter, they not only improve their mood, but they also enhance their relationships by making connections with their peers.
Laughter yoga is a practice involving prolonged voluntary laughter. It is based on the belief that voluntary laughter provides the same physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. Laughter yoga is done in groups, with eye contact and playfulness between participants. There are no jokes or anything humorous, however forced laughter soon turns into real and contagious laughter. Laughter is the perfect example of the emotional contagion effect in action and a fun way for people to learn about their mind/body connection.
- Enhance your mood
- Grow your connections with your peers
- Lower your blood pressure and dissolve your stress
- Laugh with interspersed breathing exercises to improve your wellbeing
- Increase your oxygen intake and improve blood flow, vessel function and energy levels
- Break down inhibitions within a group and increase a positive culture of social bonding.
This 1 hour workshop is designed as a fun and educational wellbeing session tailored to your school, company or organisation. It is suitable for people wanting to assist groups to grow a positive social bonding and wellbeing culture.