A dramatherapy and play project aimed at developing communication skills has brought benefits to children, parents and practitioners across 24 children's centres and two schools in Surrey, with participants reporting a greater appreciation of storytelling and play, and improved relationships between adult and child.
Called Communication Through Play (CTP) the project uses a mix of storytelling, puppets, make-believe, movement and drama. It was developed by a creative arts therapy organisation Marvellous Productions, which has run it in several areas including Hammersmith and Fulham, Wokingham and West Sussex.
Surrey Early Years commissioned the project after running a pilot in four of its children's centres, and over the past four years, the scheme has been rolled out to some 550 children, 330 parents and 20 practitioners.
Lmeevaluation.co.uk has now evaluated CTP against its objectives, interviewing parents and practitioners, and found its impact both positive and powerful.
Marvellous Productions director Roya Hamid says, 'CTP has demonstrated the importance of both good storytelling and the playful adult to support children's learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. It has shown how therapeutic interventions can support educational outcomes.
'CTP has also proved itself to be an innovative project that not only addresses attachment - how adults and children relate and communicate with each other in a healthy way - but as an early-intervention strategy.'
AIMS
The overarching aims of the project are to improve communication, language and literacy, and improve children's educational outcomes by heightening their interest in stories and books.
To achieve these twin goals, CTP works with parents to improve:
- the quantity and quality of parents' storytelling and reading to their children;
- communication within the family; and
- parents' emotional engagement with their children's play.
Contact time with early years staff aimed to broaden practitioners' understanding of the importance of play, story and storytelling by improving their:
- vocal range;
- confidence in movement;
- skill in incorporating children's contributions; and
- ability to enable children to express their ideas through movement, voice and play.
A secondary aim was also to improve relationships between parents and early years staff.
SESSIONS
CTP achieves these goals through four sessions:
The PlayStory - an interactive improvised performance called 'Where is Sidney?', based on the lifecycle of a butterfly. Attended by children, parents and practitioners, this hour-long show models creative play and effective interactions with children using minimal resources. At the end, each family is given a copy of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar to take home with them.
Parents' Playtime - a 90-minute storytelling workshop showing parents how to create their own PlayStory around children's books. This session uses games to build parents' ability to express themselves, leaving them more confident to play and communicate more openly with their children. This session is held immediately after PlayStory, when parents have seen the Marvellous Productions team in a playful situation with their child, and so are relaxed and ready to engage with facilitators and each other.
Practitioners' Workshop - this full day's workshop builds staff confidence in storytelling and playful practice by exploring the use of the voice, movement and improvisation.
All Together - a 90-minute interactive craft and story session held a week later, when children, parents and practitioners join together to retell the PlayStory in their own way.
Games form an integral part of CTP. Children enjoy seeing their parents play, laugh and interact during ball games or when singing simple songs that incorporate their names. Caterpillar sock puppets were a hit with even the most reluctant parent as the children and their parents set off to greet and engage other caterpillars.
After running the initial sessions for Surrey, Marvellous Productions was then commissioned to consolidate the learning from CTP by working on site with practitioners in their playrooms, nurseries and play-and-stay sessions twice a term over a year.
EVALUATION
In its interim evaluation of CTP, the evaluator identified a few problems within the programme: principally the need to communicate better the purpose and structure of the sessions to parents and practitioners - which Marvellous Productions has now addressed. However, in terms of approach and format, CTP scores some major successes, most notably in its ability to inject fun into both the training and children's learning.
The impact report notes, 'CTP showed the power of fun to engage, to keep focus and to support learning. One of the strongest messages coming from both parents and practitioners was how this aspect of the sessions allowed them to open up, be themselves, let go and "have some fun" and, as a result, understand more how children see things, and that any situation can be an opportunity for play.
'The games that were an integral part of the session had dual purpose, one of which was always the fun aspect; the other a different aspect such as ice-breaking, welcoming interruptions, understanding space and movement or shedding inhibitions to enable freer engagement.'
As a result, says the study, everyone involved grew in confidence, with parents and practitioners reporting that the project had a positive impact on children's confidence, interest in books, memory, concentration and relationships with both their parents and carers.
What practitioners gained from the sessions varied, and included:
- better understanding of child- led play;
- the importance of the 'neutral practitioner', that is, being available at the child's level;
- the importance of playful practice;
- improved ability to be reflective about practice; and
- ideas for play at home or at their centre.
Generally, however, practitioners reported a 'letting go of control', with 71 per cent gaining a greater understanding of how to create a playful environment and feeling more able to use their imagination at work.
Importantly, they felt their skills improved not just after the sessions (70 per cent) but also in the longer term (after several months, half reported their skills improving 'a lot').
'Like the practitioners, the parents reported joy and engagement with losing inhibitions and relearning playfulness,' continues the study.
However, while the vast majority of parents said they intended to use their new knowledge at home - 97 per cent in the case of PlayTime parents - only 41 per cent of parents responding to the follow-up survey some months later said that they were reading or playing more with their children.
Nevertheless, concludes the evaluation, 'the evidence suggests that the sessions whetted the appetite of parents to learn more about play and use it at home'.
Generally, relationships between parents and with practitioners strengthened as a result of CTP, as did those with children. Seventy-one per cent of practitioners reported improved relationships with parents.
Ms Hamid says, 'The CTP model has been proven to create a sense of community among participants and shows that there are positive outcomes for children and families when the EYFS is delivered with an awareness of therapeutic strategies and a playful attitude.'
The Marvellous Productions team has been invited to speak on the project at early years conferences and to deliver a lecture to childhood-studies degree students at the University of Chichester.
FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS
Practitioners
'It has proved the power of learning through fun and drama'
'It's taught me how to play again.'
'It made (staff) realise how bogged down they can become in paperwork. There is (now) more creative involvement happening than just asking questions to extend their play.'
'The parents seemed really involved and were communicating with their children more.'
'I don't normally read stories to children as a group but will be doing so soon as I now have more confidence.'
'Practitioners have said how interesting it was to see parents in a different context. It's an experience we've shared, so has broken down some barriers and taken away any awkwardness.'
After the practitioners' workshop, staff were intent on:
'going with the children's ideas rather than an adult's agenda'
'making storytime more physical' and
'not being so target-driven'
Parents
'It was fun learning'
'Children were spellbound.'
'Being spontaneous is really fun.'
'It was interesting to see what small things captured his imagination.'
PlayStory opened parents' eyes about how to:
'bring a story alive'
'create our own versions' and engage in 'shared play through imagination instead of relying on toys'.
What parents found helpful about Playtime was:
're-evaluating how I relate to my child' and
'opening my mind to the value of play'
In response to what they had learned, parents said they would:
'climb under the dining table and make a tent!'
'make silly sounds and noises'
'play the alien greeting game!'
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