Health and Wellbeing
Creating Opportunities for Play
Bring more laughter and play into children's days, with ideas that need little more than a cardboard box and some imagination.
- 23 minutes
- 7 modules
- Certificate
Members
Parent membership: all 50 courses for parents and carers, £40 a year or £4 a month after 14 days free.
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What you'll learn
- Use play and laughter to help an anxious child feel safe
- Build a den together and listen for what's on the child's mind
- Create play rituals that turn boring moments into funny ones
- Use drawing and music to help a child get a feeling out on paper
- Set up never-ending games that keep going all week
About this course
When a child is anxious, play is one of the quickest ways to tell their body it's safe. It's also the first thing to get squeezed out, at school and at home, because it doesn't tick a box or produce anything you can mark.
There are plenty of ways to put it back without a big plan or bought equipment. Build a den from sheets and ask the child what's in it (a moat? a swimming pool in the basement?), then play the story out together and listen for the worries that come out. Draw along to rock music, then classical, and talk about how each one felt. Invent a silly family ritual, like shouting "bunny rabbits!" instead of "bless you".
It's taught by a practitioner who specialises in laughter and playfulness, and there are craft ideas in the notes for rainy days.
7 modules
Open in order
- 5 min
Introduction
- 5 min
Get outside
- 3 min
Create a play ritual
- 3 min
Build a den
- 4 min
Creative expression
- 3 min
Never ending games
- 3 min
Wrap up