Resilience Finders: Book of Invisible Paths
Teaching and learning resilience building toolkit
2021 – ongoing
Hilary Thomson
Funded by: Anguish’s Educational Foundation & Freemen’s Charity
The Toolkit: This combination of a board game and personal development programme works through the lens of a metaphorical journey and quest, using game design, storytelling, coaching, and multi-arts creative exercises.
The toolkit consists of a board game, resilience-building personal development exercises, a website with downloadable and printable materials, videos of how to use the toolkit and play the game, and a fantasy map.
“Resilience Finders is just breathtaking in its potential impact for so many people.”
Natasha Purple – Organisational Consultant and Systemic Coach
The story adventure: consists of a journey across a fantasy land with challenges and tasks to complete along the way and milestones to reach. Players carry a virtual backpack that they fill with resilience through the journey. They collect a toolkit of strategies in the form of personal development exercises to help them make choices and move forward with their lives.
Resilience Building: the programme content draws on our understanding of the obstacles people face and the developmental stages we all go through in our lives. Within the safety of the fiction we focus on confidence and self-esteem building, empathy and a positive mind-set, fear of failure, stress triggers and how to deal with them, and fear of change; building healthy behaviours, better relationships, and better communities.
The design and content of this programme draws on the team’s extensive in-depth knowledge and over 25 years of experience writing and delivering education programmes and creative workshops with both adults and children, in both formal and informal learning environments.
“This is a wonderful resource for our pupils” E Homan, year 6 class teacher Magdalen Gates Primary school.
Mental Health & Wellbeing: The bright colourful fun and funny game format is designed to increase mental well-being and motivate young people to enjoy themselves, raising Oxytocin levels and giving them a lift. People use their imaginations and escape into an alternative world while addressing their own real-life issues and feeling supported along the way.
Adaptability: the beauty of this toolkit is its adaptability. You choose the timeframe, length, and structure of the game and pick and mix the personal development exercises that suit your group best. You can also play with between 2 or up to 30 people at a time.
“It addresses big themes in an engaging way” Mr Robson, Norfolk Virtual School (working with care leavers)
Our Mission: Everybody on board at The Ministry of Imagination has put their creative flair and passion for imagination into this toolkit, producing ideas and challenges which will improve the game player’s confidence in day-to-day life, even after just one game.
‘We believe resilience is a life skill everybody should hold in order to cope with what life throws at them: we want to help. By providing the tools to grow and flourish via an engaging, inspiring, and adventurous narrative, we encourage thought which enriches minds and empowers lives. Resilience Finders sets the scene for lifelong learning and life-changing personal development.’