Purple Playspace

Wellbeing & Drama Primary School Program

Our experiential drama and movement program provides the tools to students to unlock their emotional intelligence in order to resolve personal and interpersonal conflicts.

Are your students struggling to create safe inclusive spaces?

Are they finding it difficult to be brave in their reciprocal communication?

Are they challenged in understanding and navigating their feelings?

Led by skilled performing arts educators and therapists, and designed by a speech therapist, Purple Playspace helps kids to understand the wisdom their bodies hold over three transformative sessions.

Through drama and movement we explore the Zones of Regulation, provide students with the tools to act with empathy and navigate social challenges in the school environment. Inspired by their own sharing of recent experiences in the playground or classroom, we use the core processes of drama therapy to create a safe space for peer connection.

We help all students find their own voice and agency when facing:

Friendship issues: Difficulty making friends, conflicts with peers, feeling left out.

Bullying: Physical or verbal bullying by peers.

Self-esteem and confidence: Feeling insecure about abilities or appearance.

Academic pressure: Struggling with schoolwork or feeling stressed about grades.

Anxiety: General anxiety or specific fears about school.

Loneliness: Feeling isolated or lacking close friendships.

Body image: Concerns about appearance, or comparison with others.

Social skills: Difficulty in social situations, such as communicating or sharing.

Skills development focus

  • Emotional intelligence

    Emotional intelligence

  • Self-awareness & self-regulation

    Self-awareness & self-regulation

  • Understanding & building empathy

    Understanding & building empathy

  • Effectively navigating social conflicts at school

    Effectively navigating social conflicts at school

"Always remember, YOU ARE BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, SMARTER than you think, and TWICE AS BEAUTIFUL as you've ever imagined."

– Dr Seuss

Program snapshot

Year Levels: Grades 1 through to 6

Group Size: 1 classroom group per session (Maximum 25 students. Additional students require additional cost.)

Duration: 50 minutes

Minimum Sessions: 3 x 50-minute sessions (scheduled over a term, or one half-day)

Setup: Requires a large space to accommodate the entire class for movement activities

Facilitators: 2

How Purple Playspace Works

Unlocking emotional intelligence and fostering empathy is a journey that unfolds across THREE transformative sessions.

Session Breakdown:

Session 1
Noticing & Naming
Our Feelings

Students dive into the foundational understanding of emotional regulation by embodying the Zones of Regulation. This session lays the groundwork for building a shared language, establishing a secure framework, and fostering a trusting group dynamic. Through drama and movement, students discover that their bodies hold all the wisdom!

Session 2
Navigating Zones &
Understanding Empathy

Explore the art of transitioning between emotional zones and delve into the essence of empathy. This session builds on the foundation laid in the first, deepening their emotional intelligence. The focus of this session is peer connection and understanding the tools they can use to stop, notice and name their feelings, then get back to the Green Zone.

Session 3
Acting Out Zone Scenes
& Emotional Regulation Strategies

In this dynamic session, students take centre stage by sharing real-life examples of recent challenging social situations at school. Guided by our facilitators, they act out these scenes, initiating group discussions and re-enactments. The focus is on understanding how empathy can be woven into these scenarios. This compassionate exploration empowers students to brainstorm strategies for returning to the Green Zone after challenging events. Students develop trust in themselves and in each other.

Join us as we turn learning into a CAPTIVATING JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY and connection.

Scope of Learning Outcomes

Our qualified teachers and therapists have designed the program to be adaptive and differentiated so that each learning outcome aligns with Victorian and Australian Curriculum requirements. Together, we’ll select the learning outcomes that best suit your School.

Victorian Curriculum
Content

  • Drama

  • Health and Physical Education

  • Critical and Creative Thinking

  • Ethical Capability

  • Intercultural Capability

  • Personal and Social Capability

Australian Curriculum (ACARA)
Content

  • Drama

  • Health and Physical Education

General capabilities (levels 1-4)

  • Critical and Creative Thinking

  • Ethical Understanding

  • Intercultural Understanding

  • Personal and social capability

Keep the Playspace alive in your school community & classroom for ongoing positive impact.

Option 1:

Ongoing Facilitated Group Check-ins at Your School

Our team can visit your school and conduct continued group check-in sessions, akin to the dynamic Session 3 experience.

Option 2:

Empowering Your Staff for Long-Term Success

Alternatively, we can empower a staff member who observed our delivery of all three program sessions to independently run their own sessions in the classroom. Find out more for professional development options.

About the Program Creator

Silvina D'Alessandro is a Certified Practicing Speech-Language Pathologist and Child-Centred Play Therapist, currently working in private practice with children at Melbourne Kids Developmental Services, Brunswick. She also holds a Bachelor Degree in Dramatic Arts from NIDA (2008), and an Advanced Diploma in Expressive Arts Therapy (2019). 

Prior to moving back to her hometown of Melbourne in 2020, Silvina lived in Toronto, Canada for 6 years, where she developed and ran inclusive drama classes and a school incursion program: the Purple Playspace! Purple Playspace was created as a response to the social struggles students experience in their classrooms and playgrounds, such as bullying, aggressive responses to social conflicts and other emotional challenges caused by stress and interpersonal struggles. She found that working with children individually was limiting when these challenges exist as part of a group dynamic; a more holistic, classroom- based, experiential approach is needed. She is so excited and deeply grateful to be collaborating with Hart & Seek to bring this beautiful program to students in Melbourne. To learn more about Silvina, visit her website, here.

Hart and Seek
Healing - Expressive Arts – Ritual – Therapy

What schools are saying

  • “The Program was brilliant! My students looked forward to every session and I can see that the activities in the program helped them be more confident and trusting of their own bodies.”

  • “I loved that the students began to understand that even their peers who they aren’t typically friends with share similar emotions, worries and needs, which has bridged the way to a closer and more accepting cohort.”

  • “We reached out to Purple Carrots because of increased schoolyard bullying. We needed students to use words and understanding to solve their conflicts. They learned to feel the zones in their bodies and how to move from one zone to another. They learned to recognise which zone they were in, and that we all move from one to another throughout our days.”

  • “The actors were able to stop and consider options rather than being pulled along by their anger or frustration. I hadn't realized that the students had such deep emotional intelligence.”

  • “The dramatization of the scenes allowed the watching students to experience empathy for the characters on the stage. The word empathy was repeated every time characters had a choice to make. Students could plainly see whether choices were made with or without empathy.”

  • “Students now have a universal and very solid understanding of the concept of empathy. They are applying this in their peer interactions.”

  • “I am hearing students talk their way out of problems, and I am seeing students rush to support each other whereas before they might have laughed or ignored.”

  • “I was most appreciative of the coaching they provided me so that I feel confident in continuing this valuable work with the students in the years to come. Purple Playspace have my strongest recommendation.”

Get in touch

Contact us for a chat to discuss the specific content descriptors that are relevant to your goals.