Mindful Monkey Education

Mindful Monkey Education Mindful Monkey Education's primary workshops use puppetry, creative narratives and interactive exercises to make mindfulness fun, engaging and relatable.

Bring your school's Mindfulness program to life with Mindful Monkey Education!

20/08/2026

🍌☎️ Your body is trying to call you… are you listening?

In Mindful Monkey, we use the Banana Phone to help children notice the clues their bodies are giving them - butterflies in the tummy, a fast-beating heart, tight muscles - and get curious about what emotion they might be feeling.

It’s a playful way to build interoception - (awareness of the signals coming from inside our bodies) and emotional literacy.

Try it with your kids:
🤙 'Get out your Banana Phones!'
🔎 'Do you have a message from your body?'

Sometimes the message is an emotion.
And sometimes… you just really need the toilet. 😂🍌

Save this one to try with your class.

18/08/2026

So… who actually IS the Mindful Monkey? ❤️ 🐒❤️ 😂

Well, that would be me!

I’m Donna - a primary teacher with a Master of Teaching, a Graduate Certificate in Child & Adolescent Mental Health, training in school-based mindfulness, and the creator (and chief monkey 😂) behind Mindful Monkey Education.

I created Mindful Monkey because I wanted to make mindfulness, emotional regulation and attention strategies concrete, memorable and fun for little kids rather than simply telling them to 'calm down,' 'focus' or 'take a deep breath.'

Seven years later, I’ve had the absolute joy of sharing Mindful Monkey with thousands of little people, with some schools welcoming me and the gang back every single year. ❤️

And yes… dressing up as a monkey is genuinely part of my job. 🐵😂

14/08/2026

One of my favourite Mindful Monkey concepts is the Runaway Brain 🧠💨

Instead of repeatedly telling a child to 'Focus!,' the Runaway Brain gives them a really simple visual cue and shared language for noticing when their attention has wandered and practising bringing it back.

We've been using this at home with my son since his teacher noticed he was finding it particularly tricky to stay focused during writing tasks.

The other morning he told me, 'My brain ran away a few times, but I brought it back.' 🥹

And that's exactly what we want - not perfect attention, but children beginning to notice what their attention is doing and learning how to redirect it themselves. 💛

I've made a printable Runaway Brain visual for teachers and parents to try.

🧠 Want a free copy? Comment BRAIN below and I'll send it to you.

10/08/2026

Mindful Monkey in 2026 so far! ❤️🐒❤️

So far this year I've visited 15 schools, run 50 workshops and shared the Mindful Monkey strategies with more than 1,250 little people.
My favourite part is seeing how many familiar school names are on this list.

10 of the 15 schools have had us before, and four of them - Westgarth, Murrumbeena, Research and Viewbank - have invited Mindful Monkey back every single year for seven years! 🥹

One of the loveliest things about going back year after year is having the older kids recognise us. I've had Grade 5s and 6s tell me they still remember Mindful Monkey from when they were little and some still have the glitter jars they made all those years ago. ❤️
Because there are different Mindful Monkey workshops for Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2, I often get some rather disappointed Grade 3–6s wondering why they don't get a Mindful Monkey workshop anymore. 😂🐵 (Maybe I need to work on that!)

We've also met lots of new faces this year, including at four new schools here in the Yarra Valley, which has been really lovely. 🌿

When I first started Mindful Monkey, I definitely didn't imagine that seven years later I'd still be packing my puppet friends into the car, heading back to some of those same schools and meeting a whole new group of little people.
Feeling very lucky that I get to keep doing this little job I created, and very grateful to all the teachers and schools who keep inviting us back to spread the magic of Mindfulness! ❤️🐵❤️

09/08/2026

After living in the valley for the last six years I'm feeling very lucky to bring Mindful Monkey Education to so many beautiful local schools! ❤️🐒❤️

I absolutely love getting to work with local children and teachers, sharing practical, playful ways to build mindfulness, emotional awareness and wellbeing.
A huge thank you to the schools who have welcomed Mindful Monkey into their classrooms - it really is such a privilege to be part of our local community. 🌿✨

09/08/2026

Meet the Mindful Monkey gang! 🐒💚💙💜🐒
Three different monkeys and three memorable ways to help little people navigate big feelings.

💚 Breathing Bobby teaches children how to use their breath to calm their bodies and get ready to learn.

💙 Emotional Eric helps children notice, name and safely express their emotions.

💜 Sensory Sally shows children how their five senses can bring them back to the present moment.

And that’s where the magic of the monkeys comes in. ✨
These loveable characters give children a powerful, memorable hook for learning and practising wellbeing strategies. Back in the classroom, remembering Bobby, Eric or Sally can help cue children to use the strategy they learnt long after the incursion is over.

Through puppetry, movement, mindfulness and plenty of silliness, Mindful Monkey gives children simple, practical tools they can actually remember and use.
Because learning to regulate big feelings doesn’t have to feel like a lesson. Sometimes it looks like fun, laughter and movement 🐒❤️🐒

Swipe to meet the gang →
📚 Mindful Monkey Education incursions for Foundation-Year 2
📍 Yarra Valley & Melbourne

07/08/2026

What are local teachers saying about Mindful Monkey? 🐵❤️
There’s something pretty special about hearing that children weren’t just engaged and having fun — they were also taking away practical strategies they can continue using in the classroom and at home. ✨
A huge thank you to the wonderful teachers who have welcomed Mindful Monkey Education into their classrooms and taken the time to share their feedback. It means so much. ❤️
I love bringing mindfulness, emotional regulation and a whole lot of monkey fun to our little people here in the Yarra Valley. 🌿🐵
Mindful Monkey Education incursions are designed for Prep–Year 2, with stories, puppets, movement, mindfulness and hands-on activities that make wellbeing skills memorable and fun.
📍 Yarra Valley schools
🐵 Prep–Year 2 incursions
❤️ Bookings now open
Want Mindful Monkey to visit your school?
📧 [email protected]
🌐 mindfulmonkeyeducation.com.au

29/03/2026

I've been very quiet on socials but busy behind the scenes lately ❤️🐒❤️

34 workshops • 847 students • 10 schools
So many beautiful moments of calm, connection and 'come back, brain' this term.

Feeling really grateful to do this work ✨





13/12/2025

Today I took a day away from the noise and spent time at a Buddhist temple — slowing down, meditating, and reconnecting with the kind of wisdom that’s been practised for thousands of years.

It felt grounding in the best way.
A reminder that mindfulness isn’t something we perform — it’s something we return to.

This is where Mindful Monkey really begins.
Not in lesson plans or resources, but in practising presence ourselves — so we can show up calmer, kinder, and more regulated for the children in our care.

One reflection that stayed with me today was about love and cherishing others:
✨ lasting love comes from what we can give, not what we can get.

I’ll be carrying this steadiness back into classrooms, homes, and little hearts learning how to navigate big feelings. ♥️🐒♥️

12/12/2025

End-of-year desk vibes over here 💻✨
Term 1 is already shaping up to be a busy one, and I’m feeling so grateful for the schools booking in early ♥️🐒♥️

If your school is thinking about wellbeing sessions for Term 1 (no need to lock anything in yet!), I’m offering a 5% thank-you discount to any school that gets in touch before the end of December.

Just:
• send me a DM
• comment “interested” below
• or send me an email to [email protected]

Hope you’re all surviving this wild final stretch… and I can’t wait to visit lots of classrooms in Term 1 🌿






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Upper Crescent Rd
Melbourne, VIC
3797

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