AMYGDALA GENIUS -abbreviated A* (A-star) Genius - takes its name from the amygdala, a small, almond shaped structure within the brain at the heart of our emotional mind and at the centre of our emotional response. The amygdala processes emotions such as anger, fear and pleasure. MORE...
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognise, acquire,
process and apply emotional information.
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A* Genius adeptly supports
safeguarding and child protection agendas by equipping young people
so that they are less vulnerable to strong emotions and challenging
encounters.
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An A* Genius game facilitator is the person with the responsibility
of generally overseeing games of A* Genius ensuring that the
learning opportunities generated in each game, are used
effectively. A* Genius facilitators are most often teachers, tutors
or parents.
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Learning to play A* Genius is easy. Players start each game with 7 randomly selected cards consisting of 3 Emotion cards, 2 Action cards and 2 Issue cards. Players can decide to play either standard games or timed games. Refer to the Member's Resources Area for full details. MORE...
The A* Genius Glossary lists definitions for
words and phrases linked to Emotional Intelligence, Emotional
Competence, Emotional
Resilience...
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The A* Genius bibliography lists the range of publications and
references instrumental in the development of the board
game.
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Playing board games can help children and young people learn to follow rules, take turns, learn to fit in and accept wins and losses. Social skills like these help children become happier at school and more eager and ready to learn. MORE...
By the age of 5 years, a child can recognise and read emotions in other people. They can also adjust their responses to strong emotions!
— Patrick Lowe (@AmygdalaGenius) July 22, 2012
The fact that some young people have never
learnt how to motivate themselves, control themselves and handle
their emotions well is a proven tragedy for them and for society.
That's why we developed
A* Genius. MORE...
Amygdala Genius creates prime learning opportunities and uses them to demonstrate how strong emotions might be handled more effectively promoting better social, behavioural, educational and health outcomes.
The A* Genius board game gives young people the tools to handle the many challenging, real life issues they face. This exciting new game has learning outcomes that meet the needs of young people by building and developing their emotional intelligence and resilience. It also equips them with a simple, innovative strategy to inspire behaviour change. It's just what many teachers have been waiting for.
Emotional well-being impacts on all aspects of human behaviour
including mental and physical health, educational and skill
development, social competence and the establishment of positive
social relationships. Playing the Amygdala Genius board game helps
to embed an effective strategy easily memorized for managing those
social pressures and strong emotions associated with conflict,
self-harm, violent aggression, knife crime, underage sex and
teenage pregnancy, drugs, alcohol and substance misuse, bullying,
gang activities and much more.
Tutors select all or a group of real life issues from the 32
highlighted in the game. Young people are then able to encounter
these issues during a game.
Studies evaluating the emotional intelligence
of children and young people have shown that when compared with
high scores, low scores were more often associated with deviant
behaviours, difficulties at school, social disaffection and poorer
life outcomes. Research findings further indicate that children and
young people labelled as gifted and talented were not exempt from
difficulties similarly linked to poor emotional health and
well-being including low self-esteem, depression, peer conflicts,
alienation, loneliness, bullying and unbearable parent-teacher
pressures for
excellence.
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Some young people transferring from primary to secondary school experience a dip in academic performance. This period can also be marked by increased levels of anxiety, aggression and depression. However, young people with higher levels of emotional intelligence and resilience are more likely to cope well with this transition. A child's emotional health and well-being also depends on how well they are able to articulate their feelings. A* Genius increases a young person's emotional vocabulary, enhances their emotional awareness and knowledge base and embeds a simple strategy for handling strong emotions.
The finding that emotional intelligence is associated with a number
of deviant behaviours including truancy and risk of exclusion
should encourage educators to develop social and emotional
programmes and tools which enable and empower children to employ
effective skills and strategies that prevent them from dealing
adversely with their emotional and social difficulties in the
classroom and in their everyday lives.
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A* Genius meets these needs and is purchased by teachers, tutors, parents, school governors, PTAs, PSHE & SRE trainers and consultants, for primary schools, secondary schools, further education colleges, home schools and other educational settings.
A* Genius is a board game for the classroom that can be enjoyed by everyone. It’s easy to learn, exciting to play, generates excellent learning opportunities, has an effective strategy for handling strong emotional feelings and embeds lessons learnt for life.
