"David Farmer has hit gold with 'Playful Plays: Volume One', and if volumes two to ten were available I would be ordering them immediately... The selling point of the book is its simplicity. It offers teachers an off-the-shelf, ready-to-go, high-quality rehearsal process ideal for primary-aged students... The book is very well laid out and user-friendly, and is the perfect go-to for short presentation pieces that pack a punch." - Teaching Drama Magazine. This lively collection of eight short plays for children and young people is supported by inspirational drama games designed to bring creativity and fun to the rehearsal room. The stories are based on traditional folk-tales from countries including China, Ghana, Greece, Japan, Turkey and Scandinavia. The book is written in such a way that young people can easily pick it up and use it themselves. The plays can be performed by groups of children on their own, or under the direction of an adult. They feature performance techniques such as mime, mask, freeze frames, audience participation, live music and song. The author draws on his experience in the professional theatre world to provide helpful advice for the young director and actor including warm-ups, tips on line-learning and ideas for character development, as well as games to develop acting skills such as concentration, focus and working as an ensemble.

A Playful Path, the new book by games guru and fun theorist Bernard De Koven, serves as a collection of ideas and tools to help us bring our playfulness back into the open. When we find ourselves forgetting the life of the game or the game of life, the joy of form or the content, the play of brain or mind, body or spirit, this book can help us return to that which our soul is heir.

Shows teachers how and why they should bring play into the classroom to make learning meaningful, relevant, and fun. Research studies show that all students—young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural—benefit immensely from classrooms filled with art, creativity, and laughter. Fun, playfulness, creative thinking, and individual expression reinforce positive experiences, which in turn lead to more engaged students, better classroom environments, and successful learning outcomes. Designed for K-12 educators, The Playful Classroom describes how teachers can develop a playful mindset for giving students meaningful, relevant and fun learning experiences. This unique real-world guide provides you with everything you need to incorporate engaging, hands-on lessons and creative activities, regardless of the level and subject you teach. Building on contemporary and seminal works on learning theory and play pedagogy, the authors explain how to inspire your students by bringing play. into your classroom. This clear, user-friendly guide supplies practical strategies and effective solutions for adding the missing ingredients to your classroom culture. Access to the authors’ companion website provides videos, learning experiences, and downloadable teaching and learning resources. Packed with relatable humor, proven methods, and valuable insights, this book enables you to: Provide meaningful experiences that will benefit students both in school and later in life Combine the principles of PLAY with traditional curricula to encourage creative learning Promote trust, collaboration, and growth in students Develop a playful mindset for bringing the arts into every lesson Foster critical thinking in any school community The Playful Classroom: The Power of Play for All Ages is a must-have resource for K-12 educators, higher education professionals, and readers looking for education-based professional development and training resources.

Supervision Can Be Playful offers clinical supervisors of mental health professionals a comprehensive and thoughtful resource. The text focuses on the clinical supervision of child and play therapists, with supervision interventions that can be augmented for use with mental health professionals who provide supervision to adolescent and adult therapists. The perspectives discussed regarding the role of the clinical supervisor are universal and readers will find them relevant regardless of the age group they are working with. The text addresses the roles and processes of clinical supervision from a unique playful perspective, and from an eclectic theoretical orientation. Each chapter author offers a piece of the supervision puzzle and offers the reader clear guidelines for implementing techniques and the rationale behind them.

With more than 50 inquiry-based and child-centered activities and exercises, A Little Drama will help teachers (including those with no theater experience of their own) develop the body, voice, mind, and heart of young children. Use these activities to help children navigate daily transitions, to calm children when it’s time to quiet, and to develop children’s creativity, sense of self, and social-emotional, physical, and literacy skills (and have a lot of fun along the way).

What role does playful behaviour and playful thought take in animal and human development? How does play relate to creativity and, in turn, to innovation? Unravelling the different meanings of 'play', this book focuses on non-aggressive playful play. The authors emphasise its significance for development and evolution, before examining the importance of playfulness in creativity. This discussion sheds new light on the links between creativity and innovation, distinguishing between the generation of novel behaviour and ideas on the one hand, and the implementation of these novelties on the other. The authors then turn to the role of play in the development of the child and to parallels between play, humour and dreaming, along with the altered states of consciousness generated by some psychoactive drugs. A final chapter looks forward to future research and to what remains to be discovered in this fascinating and important field.

Examines the role of playfulness in animal and human development, highlighting its links to creativity and, in turn, to innovation.