Blob Tree Tools

Blob Tree


The Blob Tree 

and the thousand of other Blob communication tools are used all over the world.
The Blob Tree came out of my work in the East End of London working with young people who could not or would not read but could read people and Blob Tools like others read books.. 
I led a large Team of People Workers as we worked with street gangs including lots of group work.

Now I work as a Trainer/Group Worker and freelance Facilitator and Group Worker.
These tools have been developed as I work with different kinds of beautiful humans week on week. 
There are Blob Tools with differing purposes because they are flexible for your use! All about helping people to open up and develop and grow ........ 
I use many of them in my work with humans who struggle with life.
I love Group Work and find that creating the right climate of trust and easing humans into self revelation is the most beautiful experience in development terms. 
These tools, and other tools in the range of books, are used in Facilitation and Training Staff who work with special needs humans in the Voluntary and Corporate Sector.



Publications available ::

1               *.........HOT GOOD/GREAT NEWS COMING SOON..........*



2   Big Book of Blobs
'The Big Book of Blobs' has over 50 x A4 size 'Blob Tree' type tools.
You have permission to photocopy for your own use in a face to face context.
There are many beautiful and powerful new tools here with permission to photocopy for personal use.
It is NOW re-published in a upgraded format by a Specialist publisher.
It will cost £30-ish and is available only from::  
http://www.incentiveplus.co.uk/

3   'You Are a Beautiful Human Person' BOOK. *
This a 'Mr Men' size book which has affirmative words alongside Blobs illustrations.
It is affirmative to the hilt with also a gentle/simple Christian emphasis.
The book costs £6.00 + p&p = £7.00
Available from me ONLY.


4   A3 Blob Tree Posters - 2 sets of Posters - Top Sellers.
Four A3 size posters have been published too.
They are in colour and the pack has four different blob trees.
A booklet is part of the pack with ideas for use.
Not available from me.
Order online from::

5   MINI BLOB TREE POSTERS 
There is four different Blob Trees x A5 size, in each set, produced in colour and on good quality/thick paper. Ideal to use in small group work.
Available from:: 

6   The Very Stinking Rolling Magazine Book . *
This 250 page Book, published in 1991 by Harper Collins, has several 'Blob Tree' type images and 100+ Games and Exercises.
The are many unique tested Group Work ideas and tools plus a specialist guide indicating sensitivity when working those with with Humans with Special Needs - we all have abilities and disabilities!
This Book costs £10.00* which includes p&p.
AVAILABLE FROM ME ONLY.


7  The Little Book of Blob Questions
Not only does it have The Blob Tree and 14 other Blob Tools, it has some ideas of how to use in a group context and several questions to trigger you own preparation for use.
AND this you can buy on line ::
Printed version or as a Download. (Not available from me.)

8  Blob Feelings
Full of Blob Tools which are much in demand by Counsellors, Educational Psychologists and Mediation Workers etc..
Includes the Blob Tree, Blob Feelings, Blob Depression, Blob Families,and many more.
Only available from 



9   Blob Spirituality.
- ONLY available online.
Blob Spirituality is a book of visual tools designed to enable deep conversations about issues which matter to people. 
Using the primary languages common to all people - body language and feelings - it provides the user with a means to explore issues as wide as bullying and change, through to Christmas and weddings. 
Take a look at the contents page to see the full range of visuals.
Available as a download or to buy as a book from::
http://www.lulu.com/content/569723
ALSO available on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/big-book-blob-spirituality/id441895374?mt=11 

10   GIANT BLOB TREE POSTER
New in 2012 - popular addition to any classroom and centre with purpose
ORDER/VIEW HERE
http://www.speechmark.net/giant-blob-tree-poster-15034 

11   THE BLOB TREE - DOWNLOAD IMMEDIATELY HERE
                                      The famous and original .......................




VIEW / BUY BLOB TREE HERE







12   THE BLOB BIBLE
A Bible without words but with plenty of Blobs which stirr the imagination and lead to self discovery of Bible stories 
View or buy here::
http://www.lulu.com/shop/ian-long-pip-wilson/the-blob-bible/paperback/product-6178492.html 
ALSO available on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/the-blob-bible/id444743137?mt=11 

 13   PIP WISDOM by Pip Wilson

Full of Pipology stories and reflections.
Humans and experiences that inspire.

View/Buy - Download or paperback.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/pip-wilson-ian-long/pip-wisdom/ebook/product-17537024.html
also available on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/pip-wisdom/id444174945?mt=11

14   BLOB SCHOOL
Download immediately.
 http://www.lulu.com/shop/ian-long-pip-wilson/blob-school/ebook/product-17544513.html
Blob School is a book of resources for black/ white photocopying for groupwork or in colour for use with an Interactive White Board (download only for colour please). 
 Using nothing more than questions and images, this tool explores life in school and creates intense conversations about the key issues in schools.
  

*

All below are from PUBLISHER

SPEECHMARK

Blob Feelings Ball

£14.99

The Blob Collection

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£369.25

Blob Book Set (2)

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£68.50

Giant Blob Feelings Poster Set (3)

£28.50

Giant Blob Feelings Poster

£9.95

Blob & Mini Blob Posters Set (20)

£37.50

Mini Blob Posters Set (16)

£17.50

Blob Posters Set (4)

£22.00

Blob Tree & Mini Blob Tree Posters Set (20)

£37.50

Mini Blob Tree Posters Set (20)

£17.50

Blob Tree Posters

£22.00

Blobtastic Sticker Book

£19.99 
 .

Blob Anger Cards

£25.00

Blob Behaviour Cards

£25.00

Teenage Life Blob Cards

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£25.00

Family Blob Cards

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£25.00

Feelings and Emotions Blob Cards Set (2)

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£47.50

Emotions Blob Cards

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£25.00

Feelings Blob Cards

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£25.00

The Blobs Training Manual

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£35.95

The Big Book of Blob Trees

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£35.95

Big Book of Blob Feelings

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£35.95

Big Book of Blobs

  • Pip Wilson & Ian Long
£35.95
------------->Downloads or OTHER Books online::
These items are being added to regularly - feel free to take a peep .....
See also these to download or order online::


If you would like any of these ones available from me *
- please send me your address and I will post to you with an invoice.
Hope this is helpful - please get back to me if you have questions.


*Note - the postage quoted is for UK only.
I will post anywhere!.

EXTRA READING if you wish - two great reviews ::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read what the Times Educational Supplement said in January 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enlist the power of the Blob

Jerome Monahan
Published: 20 January 2006

The Big Book of Blobs By Pip Wilson and Ian Long £12 (including p&p); the A3 posters are £19 (including p&p) Email: pip@pipwilson.com
Here are two new words that could well enter the lexicon in 2006.

The verb "to blob"and its associated noun "blobster" meaning a convinced user of Blobs in training and education work with adults and young people.

The roots of both are the endlessly adaptable "Blob" people (born of a collaboration between artist Ian Long and group worker and trainer Pip Wilson) and now gathered into a collection of over 50 fresh illustrations designed to promote communication and emotional literacy.

The book begins with the original "BlobTree" that has been doing the rounds of schools and counselling settings for many years and features a population of jelly baby-like figures climbing, hanging and falling from trunk and branches and demonstrating behaviour ranging from mutual support to out-and-out opposition or complete isolation. "This picture is over 25 years old," says Pip Wilson. "It emerged from my youth work in East London with young people unwilling or unable to read and has circulated since among teachers and other professionals often in the shape of photocopies of photocopies. Now we have greatly extended the range of Blob situations and scenarios - though all offer the same multiplicity of interpretation that made the original so useful a tool."

The new illustrations are gathered into four themed sections: places, such as playground and disco settings; issues, including bullying; families and death; occasions, including a Blob Christmas; and, finally, a set of personal development scenarios. "Most of the situations are open to symbolic interpretation," suggests Ian Long. "They can be used to help children and young people make the leap to some highly sophisticated thinking. They have proved an ideal prompt, helping people to open up about themselves in ways that more direct cross-examining often fails to do."

"The great thing about Blob pictures is the way they provide an entirely non-threatening way into young people's thinking," suggests Norwich-based sex and relationship educational development worker Molly Potter. "I have used them in a variety of circumstances and they are great for drawing out views without the need for any reading whatsoever. They have proved extremely useful helping both secondary and primary pupils. In addition, they have worked as a great ice-breaker for the PSHE sessions I lead with primary teachers." Included in The Big Book of Blobs is guidance about the importance of subtle questioning as the key to the successful use of the images. "The quality of the questions that young people are asked makes all the difference," says Ian Long.

"In co-ordination with the images, effective questions can move young people on from everyday communication to discussing their beliefs and feelings, and eventually reaching the kind of openness from which real progress can flow." Ian Long cites a powerful example involving a distraught Year 4 child he witnessed being able to use a Blobbing session to identify the figure in one image he most felt like at the time. "It was the necessary launch pad he needed to express his current emotions," says Ian. "He took the risk of opening himself up and it produced the extraordinary result of another pupil pointing to a friendly Blob embracing another to articulate how he would like to help his classmate."

For Jill Aitkin, assistant head at Canons High School in Harrow, the moment when Blobs proved their worth was in her work with a young boy whose mother was seriously ill. "His worry was being manifested in aggression," she recalls. "Using the Blob Tree picture with him gave him the chance to point to the figure in mid-air having fallen off a branch - this was how he felt and he immediately burst into tears. It enabled him to express his underlying sadness and anxiety." She adds: "Blobs are deceptively simple figures, recognisably human and manifesting an extraordinary range of emotions and relationships. They are a very direct and yet unobtrusive way to help adolescents explore their feelings."

Sarah Davidson of Slough Borough Council's Educational Psychology Service adds: "The Blob Playground and Bullying pages have proved particularly helpful. But intrinsic to all Blobs is their lack of specific identity.

They are sexless, ageless and without racial characteristics. Even the youngest children can come to own the images, finding in them Blobs that reflect their past and present circumstances and how they would like to be in the future."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOUTHWORK MAGAZINE - REVIEW OCTOBER 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Youthwork review

‘One of the most dynamic, flexible and innovative resources the youth work world has ever seen.’
There you go, stick that on the back cover because we mean every word.
Pip and Ian’s ‘Blob Tree’ resource has been around for nearly twenty years now, making a great name for itself over that time. An A4 monochrome image, bereft of writing, it displays a large tree filled with sexless, shapeless, ageless ‘blob people’. Like stick men who’ve chomped one Big Mac too many, their simple yet animated forms are used to represent emotions, decisions, personality types and social situations. A person can point to the blob whose stance, expression or activity they most identify with, and perhaps explain why. And that’s it. Essentially, it’s just a tree full of conversation-starting blobs.
But that, of course, is the brilliance of it. Because of its simplicity, the tree becomes the perfect resource when attempting to get people to talk about themselves and their social interactions. Children enjoy the visual focus, and can discuss important issues; adults identify with the emotions presented in these abstract characters. And there’s no language involved, so the image can be used to the same effect anywhere in the world.
Pip and Ian return here with a whole book of variations on the theme, as their army of cartoons populate more than 50 new scenes. Spread throughout four themed categories, they place the blobs in a range of tree-substitutes – a playground, a protest march, a football match, a community and so on – each designed to spark a different kind of conversation and interaction.
Some examples: on looking at the book now (after all, which blob you are today doesn’t always define which blob you’ll be tomorrow), I define myself as the blob at the back of the cinema; and the blob walking through one of the ‘blob doors’. Simple and silly as they seemed at first, these little people have had a profound effect on my thoughts today.
That’s why this book is so vitally important to youth work in the broadest sense. These illustrations, though almost text free, are deceptively complex and engaging. The potential for both getting people to talk and releasing them to think, is awesome.
The acid test: I’ve tried this with young people already, and had stunning conversations off the back of it. If Youthwork ran the resource Oscars, Pip and Ian’s Big Book of Blobs would have just walked away with the award for Best Picture(s).

Martin Saunders
Editor of Youthwork
Oct 2005

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The Blob Tree .............. One description of it's use.


Pip here - 
I found this on a Blog and thought you may like to read an example of how Blob Tools can be used.


“So, Michael, how are you today?” I asked my client at the beginning of our treatment session this week as I placed a copy of the “Blob Tree” in front of him.



I learned about the “Blob Tree” (created by Pip Wilson and Ian Long) in graduate school where one of my clinical supervisors used it with a group of clients who had aphasia (an acquired language disorder as the result of a stroke).

The beautiful thing about the “Blob Tree” is that people can use it to communicate how they are feeling, even if they cannot articulate it verbally.  I loved the “Blob Tree” from the first moment I saw it and immediately added it to my arsenal of treatment materials.  After I graduated, I took it with me out into the workforce, even though I wasn’t going to work with adults who’ve had strokes.  Instead, I use it with children who have Autism.

And little Michael is a young boy with Autism.

“Hmm,” he said as he studied the tree I had placed in front of him.



“This one is me,” he declared as he circled one of the Blobs, then he smiled and genuine joy sounded in his voice, “This one is me because I’m so glad you’re back!”

The Blob he circled was smiling and had its arm around the Blob next to it.

My heart melted at Michael’s unexpected response and sincere happiness.  Michael was the only client I had served before Snuggles’ birth who was able to remain on my caseload when I returned from maternity leave.

“Oh, Michael,” I replied, “Thank you!”



Then I circled the Blob next to his and responded, “This one is me, because I’m so glad I’m back, too!”

Michael suddenly looked in my eyes and we shared a moment of shining smiles and mutual joy.







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