PELICAN
PELICAN
Promoting Emotional Literacy in Children with Additional Needs
PELICAN is a framework, story, guidance, and resources to support children and young people with additional needs, particularly learning disabilities, learn skills in noticing and coping with feelings and thoughts, building relaxation skills, and problem-solving/flexible thinking skills.
PELICAN is designed to be delivered to children and young people with complex learning needs and/or learning disabilities aged 4-18 years.
The PELICAN story is a simple visual story about Peli, the pelican, who is too scared to fly, and their friend Tou who helps Peli. An audio video version of the story is below. As well as the audio-video story, there are pdf and Powerpoint versions to read and show in the Resources.
The story is engaging and simple and shows the PELICAN framework with some examples of how Tou helps Peli using the four framework elements:
- I CAN Feel
- I CAN Relax
- I CAN Think
- I CAN Do
These four elements are important aspects of building emotional literacy, resilience and wellbeing.
The evidence shows that the framework should be delivered in this sequence:
The PELICAN Guidance outlines how to deliver PELICAN, including example activities and links to resources. This guidance also has ‘I CAN begin’ and ‘I CAN evaluate’ sections to support people to know how to set up and how to measure change from PELICAN.
The guidance and resources may also help the adaptation of activities within other specialist interventions/approaches, some we’ve signposted, to be accessible and appropriate for use with children and young people with more significant learning needs.
You do not need special training to use the PELICAN framework. However, it is assumed those using this guidance are already working with, or have experience of supporting, children and young people with additional needs.
PELICAN Resources
You can download all PELICAN resources in folders for all the I CAN’s. These folders contain all materials including the guidance document, storybook, activities, examples, templates, etc., here:
Download all PELICAN Resources:
- I-CAN Begin
- I-CAN Feel
- I-CAN Relax
- I-CAN Think
- I-CAN Do
- I-CAN Evaluate
- PELICAN Story
- PELICAN Guidance
- PELICAN Background
This section outlines how to get started with using the PELICAN framework. It also includes the PELICAN story and guidance (the guidance will direct you to all other resources).
Activities and resources to help to develop skills in noticing and naming feeling in ourselves and others; normalising feelings; similarities and differences; identifying different body signs for feelings, and when feelings are “too big”; beginning to link feelings, situations, thoughts and behaviours.
Activities and resources to help to develop skills to notice our own body signs and situations that make us worried or angry and different relaxation (‘chill skills’) to calm both our body and mind.
Activities and resources to help to spot the difference between thoughts and feelings, notice or catch thoughts, recognise the difference between green (helpful) and red (unhelpful) thoughts, grow green thoughts, begin to build links between feelings, situations, thoughts and behaviours. Next are activities and resources to help develop problem solving skills, make goal plans & coping plans, by breaking them down, use flexible thinking (star thinking), use other PELICAN skills- relaxation/chill skills, use support, support/help others; eat & sleep well; get outdoors.
Activities and resources: to help to try, reward ourselves and others for trying practice, remember, use support, have fun!
This folder contains session review templates, some accessible versions of published measures and examples and ideas for personalised approaches to help evaluate learning.
PELICAN Introduction Videos
We’ve made some short videos to:
- introduce PELI CAN (story, structure, tips)
- demonstrate some of the PELI CAN activities from the 4 ‘I CAN’s’
PELICAN Activity Demonstration Videos
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Feel’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Feel’ activities for Noticing and naming feelings which uses the Resource ‘Activity 15 SEAL photos with widgits’, see PELICAN Guidance pages 27-28.
This helps check out what words or names folk may use for feelings, how they tell how people are feeling- eg body signs such as facial expressions (mouth, eyes, eyebrows, cheeks), voice (loud/soft; tone; what’s said) and sometimes there’s a cue for a ‘why?’ eg presents.
In ‘I CAN Feel’, the activities and resources help to develop skills in noticing and naming feeling in ourselves and others; normalise feelings; recognise similarities and differences; identify different body signs for feelings, and when feelings may be “too big”, and begin to link feelings, situations, thoughts and what we do (behaviours). See pages 25-31 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the ‘I CAN Feel‘ activities and resources.
Some ‘I CAN Relax’ activities are introduced in early ‘I CAN Feel’ sessions as it is helpful to bring relaxation/chill skills in from the start.
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Relax’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Relax’ activities – a breathing activity from the Hospichill app, http://hospichill.net/. See PELICAN Guidance pages 33-34 for more information and for other relaxation Breathing Activities.
In ‘I CAN Relax’ the activities and resources help us learn relaxation/chill skills which settle our body and mind (self-sooth, de-arouse, regulate). This helps us enjoy ourselves, do more things, learn about, cope with and manage feelings and also notice sensory experiences of our physical, social and personal worlds.
See pages 32-37 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the 16 ‘I CAN Relax’ activities and resources. As well as scripts and resources for Breathing activities, others focus more on body, relaxation using 5 senses, visualisation and mindfulness.
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Relax’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Relax’ activities – a mindful activity, see PELICAN Guidance pages 36 for more information, and for other mindful activities.
In ‘I CAN Relax’ the activities and resources help us learn relaxation/chill skills which settle our body and mind (self-sooth, de-arouse, regulate). This helps us enjoy ourselves, do more things, learn about, cope with and manage feelings and also notice sensory experiences of our physical, social and personal worlds.
See pages 32-37 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the 16 ‘I CAN Relax’ activities and resources. As well as scripts and resources for mindful activities, others focus more on breathing and body activities, relaxation using 5 senses and visualisation.
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Think’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Think’ – the Thoughts/Feelings/Behaviour musical statues game activity, see PELICAN Guidance page 40.
In ‘I CAN Think’ the activities and resources help us learn to spot the difference between thoughts and feelings, notice or catch thoughts, recognise the difference between green (helpful) and red (unhelpful) thoughts, grow green thoughts, as well as begin to build links between feelings, situations, thoughts and behaviours.
Next are activities and resources to help develop problem solving skills, make goal plans & coping plans, by breaking them down, use flexible thinking (star thinking) and use other PELICAN skills such as relaxation/chill skills in goal and step plans, along with using support, supporting/helping others and broader life activities such as eating and sleeping well and getting outdoors.
See pages 38-47 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the 25 ‘I CAN Think’ activities and resources.
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Think’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Think’ activities – ‘Star thinking- what can I do?’, see PELICAN Guidance page 44.
In ‘I CAN Think’ the activities and resources help us learn to spot the difference between thoughts and feelings, notice or catch thoughts, recognise the difference between green (helpful) and red (unhelpful) thoughts, grow green thoughts, as well as begin to build links between feelings, situations, thoughts and behaviours.
Next are activities and resources to help develop problem solving skills, make goal plans & coping plans, by breaking them down, use flexible thinking (star thinking) and use other PELICAN skills such as relaxation/chill skills in goal and step plans, along with using support, supporting/helping others and broader life activities such as eating and sleeping well and getting outdoors.
See pages 38-47 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the 25 ‘I CAN Think’ activities and resources.
Activity demonstration: ‘Noticing and naming feelings’ (from ‘I CAN Do’).
This video shows one of the PELICAN ‘I CAN Do’ activities – ‘Compliments bookmarks’, and takes us through one of the Example visual reports, see PELICAN Guidance page 48.
In ‘I CAN Do’ the activities and resources help us learn to use all the skills that have been learned through PELICAN together, to try and reward ourselves and others for trying, practice, use support, have fun!
See pages 47-49 of the PELICAN Guidance and resources folder for the rest of the 8 ‘I CAN Do’ activities and resources.
PELICAN Lite
A PELICAN-Lite ‘streamlined’ version was developed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It focuses more on I CAN Relax and the important of familiarity and fun in unusual or challenging times. It also signposts some other resources that were developed in this time which still have relevance.
Background
PELICAN is built from:
- Practice-based evidence and evidence-based practice
- Collaboration & feedback
- Literature reviews/updates
- Networking
- Community of Practice
Please read the background paper for more information.
Acknowledgments
PELICAN comes from collaborative development work originally supported by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities. Thanks to the many people involved so far – see acknowledgements near the end of the Guidance.
PELICAN has been launched to fly by:
- Leanna Ong – Former Trainee Clinical Psychologist, University of East London, now Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
- Dominic Wrein – Former Trainee Clinical Psychologist, University of East London, now Senior Clinical Psychologist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Ro Rossiter – Consultant Clinical Psychologist/Honorary Researcher, Tizard Centre, University of Kent
- Christine-Koulla Burke – Former Director, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities