Dig into the complexities of relationships with Maca & Roni
Hopefully, we have all settled into 2022 – in both our personal and work lives. In my last blog, paired with my free resource of the Best of 2021 featuring Maca & Roni, I focused on various visual supports with those animations. Let’s stay with the Maca & Roni theme again, but this time focus on some of the interpersonal social and relationship experiences that give us great material.
The characters of Maca and Roni remind me of Ernie and Bert – and as such, are very sibling-like. As workers in Dr. Albert’s lab, where they appear to also live, they are constantly getting themselves into tricky situations out of which, one way or another and with varying degrees of success, they seem to always extricate themselves. While they very much care for each other, they also experience uncomfortable feelings toward each other with relative frequency. Thus, Maca and Roni, and their relationship, give us great social learning material! Let’s check out some examples:
Pretending to like something to make the other person want some:
“Buttering someone up” (also known as manipulation)
Making plans to try to stay out of trouble.
Staying regulated when feeling competitive.
Collaboration when problem solving.
NOT getting along.
Escalating feelings!
Have you found other wonderful ways to use Maca & Roni? Snap a screenshot or photo and send them in so we can all share! Countless opportunities to discuss so much about social with these 2 characters – thanks again to creator Kyungmin Woo!!
Maca and Roni episodes also provide great material for Conversation in Real Time – one of the Practice Activities in my Conversation Paths Pack Expanded Version (CPPEV). It’s a way to practice the intricacies of conversation: spontaneous formulation, timing, affect, feeling size, and more. The full program includes Paths, info on Assessment, Goals & Tracking Progress, 4 rubrics with templates, as well as Practice Activities. There are on-line tutorial videos also included.
