Crayon Rocks Au

18/07/2023

My first morning moving after a week of sickness, hearing loss and migraines.

The kids brought some vintage tea cups with their pocket money and made banana and chia bread for their fancy tea party.

02/07/2023

I’m so excited to see so many centres we are visiting this week displaying this gorgeous creation by on the walls and at the entrances to their classrooms.

Over the years, I’ve noticed more and more schools and centres are purchasing prioritising the use of indigenous created materials to share with their students and hearing the educators sharing about the artists, makers and creators to the children is really special.

Looking forward to visiting more centres this week and seeing how NAIDOC week is being celebrated.

Jess 🌈

22/06/2023

Look at our beautiful girl going down the sand dunes at the Spectrum Adventures adventures camp earlier this year.

I tend not to involve ourselves in group activities as it can sometimes be a big challenge for our kids and sometimes more energy for me to regulate and prepare them for activities than it’s worth.

I am SO glad we attended the Tangalooma camp.

Our kids LOVED the sand toboggan, they fed kookaburra’s, went kayaking, participated in group programs, did art with new friends and hand fed dolphins…..

Normally all of these things would be as bit much for one day BUT look what our kids can do in a supportive environment where their needs are met?

This is why I will always advocate so heavily that our kids CAN participate alongside their peers when someone takes the time to meet their needs.

Thanks you so much to Dee Thomson and the team at Spectrum Adventures.

14/06/2023

Finish this sentence, you know you’re a parent when…… 😂

13/06/2023

A heartfelt thank you to for our beautiful package today.

We’ve recently started our journey into homeschool and slowly updating all of our resources and educational materials.

It’s taken me quite a while to plan our resources as I wanted to make very conscious and meaningful choices for both the products we buy and their creators.

I’ll share more in the coming weeks once I sort out our curriculum and find our feet.

In the meantime, if you have any wonderful ideas you’d love to share I would be so grateful.

Jess 🌈

08/06/2023

Is your child a collector?

Mine are. They collect ALL the things.

We come with rocks, sticks, leaves, shells, tiny pieces of broken treasures they’ve found….. all 👏 the 👏 things!

We’ve started to make a finders shelf where we place all of our beautiful found treasures on for the week and we use these as prompts for conversation and future activities.

This is a beautiful example by

Jess 🌈

08/06/2023

Have you seen our new STEM kits that have arrived???

I absolutely love them as they are ready made kits with everything you need to grow your own coral reef, build electrical cars, create an active volcano, make your own bee hive + more.

We’re testing out the Coral reef kit this week and I am so excited to get started.

Pop on over to the website and take a peek. This is a small collection with limited numbers so snap them up while they’re available.

🌈 STEM KITS https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/purposeful-play-pop-up

16/05/2023

Kids of the 80s… what were your favourite toys?

I thought this would take me ten minutes to make this post, instead it was several hours of deep diving into my childhood toys. 😂😂

What were your favourites?

I had SO many that I could not list as there weren’t enough pages!!!!

Jess 🌈

15/05/2023

Do you spend time outdoors?

We often get caught up with drawing and crafting in our homes, but it’s nice some times to take the creativity outdoors into nature.

A change of scenery and environment can be the perfect instigator for creativity and a feeling of connectedness.

I love this beautiful set up by using the beautiful of nature as a background for this activity.

Jess 🌈

15/05/2023

How wonderful is this 🌈

11/05/2023

Mixed Media Art

How awesome is this mixed media play prompt from ?

I really loved mixed media as it gives the child the opportunity to explore and express themselves through a variety of different textures, colours and mediums.

Do you do mixed media art with your little one?

Jess 🌻

11/05/2023

What a beautiful activity for the cooler weather…

I really love simple, nature based crafts that require very little set up, so this is right up my alley.

Activities that incorporate repurposed items too are always a favourite.

This could be replicated with some beautiful flowers, interesting foliage and nature based items you can find on your walk.

I really love and the beautiful way Hannah brings Crayon Rocks into nature to create the most magical activities.

What are your favourite nature activities? We are homeschooling now so I would adore some new ideas.

Jess 🌈

10/05/2023

Can you spot the Crayon Rocks among the pieces???

A really beautiful creation by 🌈💜🌻

05/05/2023

“But your kids don’t go to ANYONE!”

This was recently said to me when a good friend of mine was looking through my phone and saw a photo of my son on the lap of someone she’s never seen before and more photos of my daughter (who most definitely does not interact with most people she meets) with the same lady.

“But your kids don’t go to anyone’ she repeated again.

It is true. Being Autistic my little people are verrryyyyyy choosy with those they allow into their space.

But they do choose some people.

My little people will only open up to those they feel safe with.

They find their safe people, they play, they share stories, they dance, they light up when they see them.

This generally only happens with other neurodivegent people and creative souls.

It was really beautiful the see my little people choose as their safe person…. Almost immediately.

They did art, they shared their favourite things, the sculpted with clay… apparently my son is now training for a job in behind the register. 😂

As a parent, I don’t have a lot of memories of my kids spending time with people outside of our family and close friends, so naturally attending any classes like other children do can be a mixed bag of emotions at times. right?

I’m so happy to see my little people loving their time at their new art class with Nancie and very grateful to for making them feel safe.

Jess 🌈💜

29/04/2023

What an amazing story from Leanyer Primary School in Northern Territory.

I’d LOVE to see this adopted in many more schools.

Leanyer Primary School is the first in the Northern Territory to teach Auslan as its core language. And it was one student who prompted the change.

22/04/2023

What would you bring back??

This topic came up over the dinner table this week and spiralled quite a large debate about our favourite foods growing up that you can now no longer buy.

I have since been thinking about childhood classics. 😂😂😂

What were your favourites? What would you bring back?

Jess 🌈

16/04/2023

WHAT IS A NOUN?

A noun is a word that helps us to name something, such as a person, place, thing or animal.

Nouns form a large part of the English language and there are many different types of nouns.

🧍🏾‍♀️Person
🏝Place
📚Thing
🦊Animal

Is it a person, place, thing or animal?

Asking children to identify nouns in their everyday lives is a great way to prompt play-based learning.

We’ve created a FREE printable download with over 100 nouns to identify and match.

Visit our website or pop on over to our bio for a link to our free printables.

Jess 🌈

🌻 FREE DOWNLOAD 🌻 https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/free-printables/products/free-printable-sorting-nouns-activity

30/03/2023

We’re excited for tomorrow as we are setting up an outdoor home learning space on the front balcony.

I originally had big plans for the area and I overcomplicated it until it became overwhelming (lol, yes this is a HABIT!!) but I have scaled back and have gone with a very simplistic and joyful concept.

We’ve been doing most of our work indoors this week and I feel like it will be nice to be outdoors and embrace the sunshine and the air.

I’ve on the lookout for a beautiful ‘tiny table’ to go beside my chair so I can drink tea while I’m observing the kids. 🌈

What’s your favourite space to learn?

Jess 🌈

29/03/2023

An uncomfortable reality we all share as advocates. 🌈

Onwards and Upwards Psychology

The burden on black, Indigenous and POC educators to wear and show their trauma and tell their stories is too much, just in order to be heard.

In order for a different perspective to exist and to claim validity over the majority narrative.

In order for our experiences to matter, we're forced to wear the trauma of being,

the trauma of violence and discrimination,

the trauma of colonialist rule, just so people listen.

We need to justify our cultural values against Western civilisation.

It shouldn't have to come to that.

We are stuck in an awful Catch-22 - We can't heal if we keep reliving the story; our stories serve for awareness to create safe spaces so we can heal.

Recently, in order for my perspective to be considered valid, I had to wear my trepidation of being burnt alive just 15 years ago when walking the streets due to the colour of my skin.

You may not "see colour", but the world does and we need that to be acknowledged.

It's not a story that should be for public consumption, but I have to tell it so it is remembered.

So people understand the privilege of unmasking, how it may not be accessible to us all, and why I may argue for social skills work under certain circumstances.

So people understand that I may not engage in combative narratives to justify my existence, because it is simply not safe to do so, not because I am wrong. Walking amongst angry mobs have always been a threat to my personal safety. To me, loud doesn't mean right; it means scary.

Anti-racist work belongs to us all, *particularly* if you are in the cultural majority, because the world was made for you.

It is this that I implore you of - to listen to different cultural perspectives, delve into history, and for this to come up when interacting with a cultural minority, rather than getting them to justify their being.

Use privilege for good, to do the anti-racist work, so we may heal in peace.

29/03/2023

Have you watched a child and observed how they gravitate towards colour?

I often watch children at our school based classes and they always move towards colour.

I love watching their reaction as they sort through a bowl of Crayon Rocks, exploring the colours with curiosity and joy.

Even watching adults sort through all of the colour ranges, they respond exactly the same as the children.

It’s one of my favourite things to see.

What’s your favourite colour? Do you have one you always gravitate towards?

Jess 🌻

for this gorgeous photo ❤️

28/03/2023

How AMAZING is nature 🌻

28/03/2023

Can you believe we are heading towards the end of term one for the year?

We’ve had a bit of a bumpy start to the year with making the decision to homeschool Miss 5 for a period of time, but nothing says adventure like the unknown, right?

Having autistic children has meant a lot of ‘unlearning’ and rediscovering what education really means for our family, a big part of that unlearning was discovering that children are so individual in how they learn.

All four of our children have had such very different paths to education and finding a way of learning that meets their needs.

But I guess that’s the centre of learning isn’t it? Discovering HOW we learn is the foundation for all learning.

What has education looked like for you?

Jess 🌈

🌻🌻 thanks so much for this beautiful photo. ❤️

26/03/2023

We’ve had a bit of a quiet month of socials as we transitions our little one to homeschooling (yes, OMG how crazy).

This wasn’t part of the plan but we’re embracing it with a full heart…. And a lot of overwhelm. Lol lol

I’m SO excited to see so many wonderful creators have shared so many great posts featuring Crayon Rocks in the last month.

It really has been such a delight to come back and find so many wonderful messages, photos and videos.

Thank you to for this absolutely beautiful, colourful burst of happiness!

I’ll be sharing a bit more of our homeschool journey as I find out rhythm.

Do you homeschool? Any suggestions would be more than welcome!!!!!

Jess 🌈

26/03/2023

MESSY PLAY

We’ll be homeschooling for the next few terms so we’ve been trying out some local activities.

I love sensory play but I’m not a fan of the mess and the clean up, so this is right up our alley.

2 hours of squishy, sensory play. My kids didn’t want to leave.😂😂

Thanks so much for having us!!

Jess 🌈

21/02/2023

HAVE YOU DOWNLOADED OUR FREE DECK OF DIVERSITY ACTIVITY BOOK? 💁🏽‍♀️

We’re so excited to share our newest collaboration with / and the launch of our free Deck of Diversity printable activity book.

This activity book takes your little ones through 10 pages of thought-provoking activities that are fabulous for both the classroom and the home.

You can normalise the introduction of conversations around self-love, respect for others and the celebration of diversity by starting with this fun activity book.

By creating time to insert these topics into your children’s lives, you are embedding in them inclusive perspectives that create a sense of belonging for self and others.

Our Deck of Diversity Activity book includes:

🌈 Diversity & Ally colouring in sheets
🌈 Classmate bingo
🌈 Daily gratitude prompts
🌈 Friendship finger puppets
🌈 Kindness notes
🌈 Brain break activity

Pop on over to our website and grab your free printable Deck of Diversity activity book.

☀️ DOWNLOAD HERE ☀️ https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/free-printables/products/free-printable-deck-of-diversity-workbook

09/02/2023

WHY DO WE HAVE TO FIGHT PRINCIPALS AND SCHOOL LEADERS, FOR OUR CHILDREN TO ACCESS EDUCATION?

Today I was reminded of the importance of aligning myself and my work with people who share my values, share my ethics and who will stand up for the things that are right.

The importance of aligning myself with those that are ally’s.

As you all may know, I spend a lot of my time advocating for disability rights, for autistic voices, for diversity… my whole heart is in this.

This path of advocating is hard. It’s heart breaking. It’s exhausting.

But if we don’t stand up and advocate, we allow the cycle to continue for another generation.

The path of advocacy also attracts a lot of individuals who will intentionally align themselves with our cause, and use these token gestures as an opportunity to infiltrate our advocacy and our work and use this as an opportunity to try and govern and silence the words easing the changes we are here to make.

They constantly twist the narrative to ensure that voices of advocacy are screened by those with privilege.

It’s important to remove these toxic people from our advocacy table and remove their access to our voices and fight.

When we remove those that are aligned with our voices for personal gain, we open up their seat at the table for those who are true advocates and amplify the voices of those that matter.

Through our work in education, I’ve found that there can be the most beautiful, kind and affirming teachers… but when there are principals and school leaders who don’t believe our children deserve access to education, we will never have true equality for our children in our schools.

Jess 🌈

08/02/2023

WHAT ARE CVC WORDS? 🌈 Free Activity Download 🌈

CVC stands for consonant, vowel, consonant.

A CVC word is a single-syllable word that consists of three letters in the pattern of consonant, vowel, consonant.

🐱 Cat (c-a-t)
🐕 Dog (d-o-g)

What Are The Benefits of Learning CVC Words?

Learning CVC words is an important part of early literacy skills and learning phonological awareness.

Phonics is used as one of the core foundations for reading and can help assist children with writing, identification of individual letters, blending sounds, rhyming and patterns.

We've created a FREE CVC Word Bundle, available for immediate download.

🌈 🌈 FREE DOWNLOAD 🌈🌈 https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/free-printables/products/copy-of-free-printable-cvc-word-bundle

We've included 33 pages of activities that can be printed out for the home and classroom!

20/01/2023

WHAT HELP CAN YOU ASK YOUR SCHOOL TO PROVIDE??

Having four Autistic children in our home, we often have to look at modifying or adjusting certain aspects of our childrens learning, to ensure they have access to education alongside their peers.

By law, a school is required to provide what’s called a reasonable adjustment in the classroom, if this adjustment is needed and something that the school can reasonably provide.

Did you know that this is accessible to ALL children, not just those with a disability?

It’s part of providing equity access to education, and something all children are entitled to.

Not sure what reasonable adjustments you may be able to access for your child?

Spectrum Adventures has created this free download, covering a range of reasonable and accessibly adjustments for the classroom.

Pop on over and grab yourself a copy. 🦋

  For those that aren't sure what accommodations or support can be provided to students at school, here's a list of potential accommodations. Not all students will need all of the accommodations on the list - some may need a few and some may need many.

10/01/2023

HAVE YOU TRIED OUR GUIDED READING STRIPS?

Our reading guide strips are a supporting tool, designed to assist in developing literacy skills by allowing a student to easily track text through the transparent panel as they read.

A recommended literacy tool for teachers, parents and students to assist with guided or independent reading, strengthening visual tracking skills by removing distractions and assisting focus.

By highlighting one line at a time, our reading guides may assist with;

🌈 Dyslexia

🌈 Ocular motor deficits and visual perception challenges

🌈 Skipping words and lines

🌈 Letter reversal and transposing letters

🌈 Repeating lines and text

🌈 Visual tracking and co-ordination and executive functioning

🌈 Red / Watery eyes and visual fatigue

✅ SHOP ✅ https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/rockn-deals/products/coloured-reading-guide-strips-set-of-6-sml

10/01/2023

Back to School Sale!

Did you know Crayon Rocks are designed by a school teacher to teach functional pencil grip?

🌈 Crayon Rocks patented design, is shaped to automatically place a child's fingers in the correct position for tri-pod grip, teaching pencil grip as your child colours and strengthening hand muscles in preparation for early writing skills.

🌈 All Natural! Our crayons are made from sustainably sourced soy wax, which is firm yet supple enough to easily mark the paper without applying unnecessary pressure to developing joints.

🌈 No Nasties! Crayon Rocks contain no phthalates (plastics) or synthetic additives.

🌈 32 Bright bold colours and shades, made from natural pigments.

🌈 Crayon Rocks are available in over 1,200 Australian classrooms and are a recommended tool for teaching functional pencil grip.

Pop on over to our Back To School Sale and try Crayon Rocks for yourself! Educators discount is available too!

🌈 https://crayonrocks.com.au/collections/rockn-deals