Children's Social Issues Multimedia Project: Life Changes Series Written by Jill Thrussell (Serious Topics explored in 30 topics/short films/books & songs, games etc. for 4 to 8 year olds)
- Tiggles, Mummy & Me: follows the journey of Anastasia and her cat Tiggles via her diary entries as they live and hide away together in their home due to domestic violence and then move from their home into a refuge (safe house) where they no longer have to hide anymore. (domestic violence)
- Forgotten Remembers Happiness (loss & grief)
- Celebrating Me (self-esteem, differences, disability & biological family issues)
- The Day I Became a Member of the Brave Kids Crew (caring for others as a young carer): follows Renee who helps her auntie to take care of her mummy after her mummy has a stroke. Along with an invitation to join the Brave Kids Crew, Renee is sent an activity challenge trail map and as Renee follows a trail map of bravery stop offs to help her build her bravery as well as to strengthen and support her, she meets some other members of the Brave Kids Crew who are kids that have been brave in various ways just like her.
- Stand Up, Speak Out (bullying)
- Munchy Bunnyheart Gets Stuck in Sadness (self-esteem & wellbeing)
- Waddle Penguinheart How to Make/Build Your Waddle Family (biological family issues, foster care, adoption & peers)
- Cindy, Jolly Dolly Holly, Gobi Teddy Bear & the Hospital Stay: follows Cindy & Jolly Dolly Holly, the rag doll with a missing eye & one leg and Gobi Teddy Bear as Jolly Dolly Holly and Gobi Teddy Bear help Cindy pack a suitcase, prepare for an operation & hospital visit/stay then stay with Cindy in hospital as they face some worry monsters together. (hospital visits & stays, wellness & emotional wellbeing)
- Tommy, Packer the Suitcase & the New House: follows the adventures of Tommy & Packer the suitcase as Packer helps Tommy pack his things, move to a new house & start a new school then unpack some useful things to help Tommy settle into his new home & school as they face & battle some worry monsters together and some bullies and each box transports them to a land in the Forever After Lands where Tommy learns to use the useful things to overcome the bullies. (moving to a new home/area, anxiety & emotional wellbeing)(developed from scenes in The Artificial Heart of Me)
- Suzie & Cardy the Get Well Soon Card: follows Suzie & Cardy (the blank Get Well Soon card) as Cardy helps Suzie to go and stay with her auntie then transforms Suzie into paper person and takes her to visit Crumpleland as Cardy helps Suzie to make her into a complete 'Get Well Soon Card' for her mummy who is in hospital. (relative hospital visits & stays, illness in others & emotional wellbeing) (relative hospital visits & stays, illness in others & emotional wellbeing)
- Feelchanges Chameleon, Colourful Feelings & Your Emotions Feel - O - Meter (emotional wellbeing)
- The Emotions Maze with Tangle Inksquirt Octopusheart (emotional wellbeing)
- The Feelings Tour with Purrtail Catheart (emotional wellbeing)
- Taming Your Wild Feelings & the Wild Emotions Forest (emotional wellbeing)
- Martin, Friendship Heartpuff, the Bridge of Friendship & the Friendship First Aid Kit: follows friendship Heartpuff who picks up a friendship help request and then visits Martin who has fallen out with his best friend Jason, who is upset because he lost his dad recently and since their friendship is broken, Friendship Heartpuff has to help Martin to repair his friendship with the Friendship First Aid Kit and then help him to build a friendship bridge of support to help Jason through this sad time. (emotional wellbeing, friendship & supporting others)
- Standing Strong Through the Storms with Calm Heartpuff (emotional wellbeing)
- Rachel, Fearchaser Heartpuff & the Three Monsters: follows Rachel who can't sleep at night because she has nightmares about the closet, toilet and the under the bed monster that grow bigger from her fears which they collect every time they scare her and Fearchaser Heartpuff who picks up her request on his 'HELP' radar then visits Rachel to help her scare those fears and monsters away when he takes her to the Fearful Forest in Heartland where she learns how to face and tackle her fears and the monsters. (emotional wellbeing)
- Dotty, the Sadness Swamp & the Broken Toys Rescue Crew: follows Dotty who loses her grandmother and her rag doll Jolly Dolly Polly, who calls upon the Broken Toys Rescue Crew to help her human because Dotty is stuck in a swamp of sadness and so they start to look around Dotty’s home, garden and bedroom to find any keepsakes that Dotty has been given by her grandmother over the years as well as any happy memories they can find to build healing planks to rescue Dotty from sadness and also to help Dotty to make a scrapbook of memories of her grandmother that she can keep. (self-esteem, loss & grief)
- Doey Deerheart, Worries Heartpuff, the Worry Swotter & the Worry Insect Swarm: follows Doey Deerheart (who runs the Natural Care Centre) who has three new patients to look after but a worry swarm attacks and so Worries Heartpuff and Doey Deerheart have to help the patients swot those worry insects away with their worry swotters so that they can make a speedy recovery. (anxiety, emotional wellbeing & teamwork)
- The Happy Moments Song Treasures, the Happy Treasure Keepsake Box & the Happy Map: Stuart & Happy Heartpuff Make a Happy Map, Happy Treasure Keepsake Box & Find Some Happy Song Memory Treasures (self-esteem & emotional wellbeing) When Stuart's mummy goes into hospital for a very long time and he has to stay in foster care, he gets stuck in sadness but Happy Heartpuff shows up and takes him on a treasure hunt to find his happy moment memory treasures from the past and to discover some of the things that make him happy in the present. Along their way with each happy moment discovery they find and make, they find a happy keepsake and a happy memory moment song to remind Stuart of each happy memory treasure that he can sing and play on his guitar to his mother as well as keepsakes he can show or give to her to cheer her up when he visits her in hospital. (anxiety, emotional wellbeing & self-discovery)
- Sarah, Doey Deerheart & the Hurt Pup: follows Sarah who finds a puppy with an injury one day on her way home from school that has been tied in a bag and then put in a pond and Doey Deerheart who responds to a nature call for help from the puppy and then takes Sarah to Heartland and the Natural Care Center where she teaches Sarah about daily self-care routines as well as how to care for the puppy through her own daily self-care routine. Once they create two drawings which are Daily Self & Body Care Routine Diagrams for Sarah and the puppy, they then put care routine labels on them (e.g. the head is given the label sleep, the torso/body the label food etc.) and Doey Deerheart then shows Sarah how to nurse the puppy back to health. (self-care & care for nature)
- Recycle Me: Leon & the Plasticon Bottle Boy: follows the adventures of Leon & Plasticon when Leon, whose parents are the middle of divorcing/separating and who is an aspiring footballer, is on his way home from practice one day and is just about to throw away the plastic bottle that he is drinking water from when the plastic bottle shouts out to him and asks him to create a boy from his empty bottle instead. The bottle boy, Plasticon then asks Leon to make him some friends from some other plastic bottles and a plastic home and a town for them to live in before Plasticon transforms Leon into a plastic bottle boy then takes him into the plastic town which has a portal to Recycle Nation where Plasticon teaches Leon about recycling after which Plasticon takes Leon on a recycling mission in his local neighbourhood to find enough old plastic bottles to complete the town as Plasticon teaches Leon about teamwork and how everyone can contribute to saving the world. (recycling, emotional wellbeing & teamwork)
- Patty & Cardo Boxy the Cardboard Box Girl: follows the adventures of Patty & Cardo Boxy when Patty moves to a new house/area and one day is playing on a tree swing in her new garden when the swing branch breaks but as she falls to the ground, the branches of the tree move and cushion her fall. The next morning Patty unpacks some of her things from a cardboard box but just as she is about to put the empty carboard in the hallway to be thrown out, Cardo Boxy, the cardboard box girl, asks Patty to make her into cardboard box theatre then Patty & Cardo Boxy go on a recycling adventure around Patty's home looking for all the empty boxes from the house move. Every empty box they find (five in total) comes from a different tree and so, Cardo Boxy turns Patty into a card person then takes Patty into each box as they visit each tree's former life where Cardo Boxy tells Patty the story of the tree each box came from after which they return then use the boxes to make the cardboard box theatre, to make all the cardboard actors (five of which are tree people/beings representing the five trees) and to put on a cardboard box play for her parents that tells the story of the five trees roots and where they came from. (recycling & care for nature)(developed from scenes in The Artificial Heart of Me)
- Peter, Wisepaws (Paws) & the Happiness Scent Trail: When Peter's granddad passes away, he feels a bit lost because they were very close but when Peter is given his cat (dog) to look after, who seems to understand what he says and can speak back to him, Mr. Wisepaws (Paws) takes him on adventure as they follow the scent trails of happy times to remind Peter of all the happy memories he made with his granddad, to spend some time reliving those happy moments and to teach him some cat (dog) lessons about life. (self-care, grief & care for nature)
- Leona, the Songbird Anibot & the Song of Happy Tomorrows: When Leona, who suffers from Aphasia, is given a songbird anibot for Christmas to translate animal sounds to help her understand her puppy, she suddenly has access to a voice facility that allows her to communicate verbally with the world for the first time and as she learns how to verbalize her own expressions, the songbird anibot teaches her how to sing the Song of Happy Tomorrows and how to find the seeds of happiness in every day as they make some new happy memory treasures together. (disability and emotional wellbeing)
- Hello Humans! I’m Back! I'm Not Extinct Yet, But Where My Truffles At?Theo, the Unextinct Potoroo & the Truffle Hunt (self-care & care for nature) Theo, the Unextinct Potoroo & the Truffle Hunt (self-care & care for nature) When Theo, who lives in a care home, stumbles upon a young potoroo who it transpires can speak that has been caught in some plastic waste, he helps him to escape before they embark on a journey to help him find his family and as they do so, the two also embark on a truffle hunt to find the potoroo some food. Along the way, Theo not only learns about what it means to be extinct as the potoroo who has magic powers takes him to Natureland then transforms Theo into a potoroo after which the potoroo gives Theo a magic stick which will allow Theo to transform into a potoroo whenever he wishes to. During their adventure as Theo bonds with his new potoroo friend, Theo meets his potoroo family, who welcome Theo into their midst where he soon discovers what it is like to be part of a family and that sometimes in life, your family are the ones that you stumble upon, or find and then choose to build a life with together. (care for nature and emotional wellbeing)
- The Bamboo Flute of Harmony: Lydia, Bamboo Chomper Pandaheart & the Song of Peace follows Lydia when a new neighbour moves in next door and Ron keeps throwing stones into the garden to knock down her dolls house but when she finds a bamboo flute and then plays it one day, Bamboo Chomper Pandaheart shows up and takes both children on a hunt to find the notes to play the Song of Peace and then takes them to visit Heartland and Harmony Nation where she helps them make some instruments so that they can play the song together. (emotional wellbeing, friendship and living in harmony)
- Tia, the Sun Bear & the Somewhere Tree: when Tia’s family have to leave their home country and live somewhere else, the language, food and environment are very different but when Tia is given a Robotic Sun Bear for his birthday. Suddenly one day, however, the robotic bear springs to life beyond robotic responses, transforms Tia into robotic bear and then takes Tia on a trail to explore its own bear roots species from the past (via the tree roots of his favourite scratch tree in the woods nearby) as well as to lands full of adventures via the interior of the tree trunk which they make into a tree house that spins into the ground and around then pops back up in different places as well as the branches which led to different magical lands and places in the Forever After Lands.
- Madeline, the Thoughts Hideaway Land & Imagine Nation: when Madeline’s father has an accident and is kept in hospital due to a brain injury and coma, Madeline visits him often but finds the hospital visits very tough due to uncertainty and the inability to communicate with her father. However, one day, she meets an imagine nationer who teaches her how to transport herself to Imagine Nation as well as into the land of her own imagination whenever she wishes to through the power of her own imagination and her own mind.
Written by Jill Thrussell
About the Writer:
- Survivor of domestic violence
- Regular carer of an older child with disabilities at eight years old
- Bullied in primary school from the age of six to ten years
- Grew up in the care system from one to six years old due to biological family issues
Note: Most projects will either be made as animation or live action with CGI, it just depends on the story and which method is more suitable, and most will have runtimes that are between 10 to 60 minutes though one or two will be about 90 minutes in terms of duration.
Themes: The Life Changes Social Issues children’s project aims to support and encourage children experiencing tricky, complex or unusual life changes or challenging social circumstances and tackles a variety of social issues.