Who is the Mooshun Man?

            Ian Thomas

Howdy! My name is Ian Thomas and I’m the Mooshun Man! I’m responsible for the moodiest cushions around!

I have a Bachelor of Education (Primary) from the University of Melbourne and I’ve been working with children for almost thirty years, mostly as a teacher in Victorian primary schools. My work has also included school holiday and vacation care programs and American summer camps. I have always had a strong focus on boys’ education, social emotional learning and their specific educational needs, a passion that drove me towards teaching in the first place.

Since the earliest days of my career, I’ve pursued professional development in the area of social emotional learning, including wellbeing, emotional intelligence and mental health. I have most recently earned a Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from Victoria University. I’ve also worked hard to develop my creative skills, studying film, animation and graphic design.

It was my obsession with colours and textures and the application of my creative skills that generated the earliest Mooshuns. When I applied my knowledge of social emotional learning, I knew I was on to something special. It was the fantastic response and support from family, friends and customers that inspired the development of Mooshuns as a business. It is the amazing reactions Mooshuns receive from children that inspires me to develop products that children are enthusiastic about and adults can use to support kids and their social emotional learning.

My aim with Mooshuns is to provide social emotional learning products that children value and adore but that can support them in their development of healthy communication and positive mental health habits. I want to support parents and people who work with children by providing them with useful and practical social emotional learning products but also by sharing my knowledge of social emotional learning and children’s mental health.