Using Playful Practice to Communicate with Special Children

"Playfulness is important; it creates an alternative space where emotional, cognitive and social dimensions can be explored and tested. This highly practical book explores the endless possibilities of using playful, creative and interactive activities to meaningfully engage with children with multiple learning difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders. By providing accessible 'steps to playfulness', this text explores some of the contemporary issues surrounding the education of children with severe learning needs, in particular the use of 'intensive interaction'. This text considers different areas of creative interactive work for practitioners to draw inspiration from, including: - Music - Interactive Musical Movement - Finger Dance - Story and Drama - Reflective Circle. The varied array of tried and tested original activities have been devised to encourage the development of social interaction, cognition, play, experimentation and creativity, in particular but not exclusively, for children whose learning needs are more complex. The author also invites teachers working in mainstream, particularly early years and primary education, to investigate the creative possibilities inherent in playfulness and to use the activities in this book to enhance the learning environment. This text offers an abundance of advice, practical strategies and tips for teachers working in special and mainstream early years and primary education, and practitioners including educators, therapists, care workers, community musicians and creative arts specialists. Parents and carers may also benefit from the use of playful, creative interactive activities to engage with their child" -- Provided by publisher.

Margaret Corke is a play and creative arts therapist, interactive music specialist, teaching assistant, consultant and freelance trainer. She has previously authored Approaches to Communication through Music (2002), also published by Routledge.