This practical book will improve the play skills - through storytelling and storywork - of anyone working with children, especially with children 'at risk', such as looked-after children, or children suffering from trauma or abuse. Strongly rooted in the story tradition - folk tales and fairy tales, myths and legends, the ancient tale as well as the child's own story - this book enables the play worker to create a safe structure in order for children to play and through playing, share stories through movement, painting, clay, sandplay or drama. A narrative approach is an effective means of enabling children to communicate their experiences, fears, hopes and dreams. This book includes guidelines on all the play techniques and advice on unexpected disclosure or extreme reaction. Above all, this book puts the playing back into storywork, whereby the children are able to discover their own strengths and creative skills; to improve their forming of secure attachments with adults; and, to begin to understand their own behaviours and swings of mood and to understand the importance of communication in social skills. For one reason or another, many children in difficulty are excluded: from their school, their family, their social or cultural group. The methods in this book develop a framework of inclusion that brings some joy into the process of storytelling and integrates it as a social and cultural form for the benefit of children who are at risk.

This second edition is fully updated and addresses ways in which we can apply stories and storytelling with children who are troubled. Stories can empower children to take action and ask for help, including help with changes and life-plans. Stories provide a secure structure with endings and closure. The book develops the following topics: Stories for assessment Stories for understanding emotions Stories for exploring the senses Stories for managing loss Stories for ritual and drama There are new and revised stories, in particular addressing trauma and abuse. This book is written for all those people with the welfare of children as their priority.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Author's acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Practical play and drama -- Chapter 2 Play and attachment -- Chapter 3 Sand play: sensory play and messy play -- Chapter 4 Movement, dance and games -- Chapter 5 Projective play and calming methods -- Chapter 6 Learning to fly and keeping safe -- Chapter 7 Dramatic play, roles and drama -- Chapter 8 Masks and puppets -- Appendix 1 Assessment -- Appendix 2 Play outdoors -- Appendix 3 Messy play recipes -- References and further reading

This wide-ranging book shows teachers and other educational professionals how to engage in highly creative approaches to the use of story, which can be centred around myths and legends, personal stories, life stories or stories created by children themselves, and highlights how storytelling can open new worlds for children with or without special educational needs.

Encouraging children to let their imagination run wild, Emily K. Neubinger offers 40 inventive projects and activities that will inspire kids ages 5 to 12 to express themselves through storytelling. Younger children will love making story stones and a storytelling jar, while older kids will open up and thrive as they embark on guided story walks and inspiring journaling exercises. Sparking creativity while developing a child’s love of language, Show Me a Story will kindle a lifelong passion for both writing and telling original stories.

"Presents concrete methods of incorporating storytelling by students of all ages into classroom practice to help teachers meet U.S. education standards of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing"--Provided by publisher.

Now in a fully revised and updated second edition, this innovative and wide-ranging book shows how storytelling can open new worlds for individuals with special educational needs and disabilities. Providing a highly accessible combination of theory and practice, the contributors to this book define their own approaches to inclusive storytelling, describing the principles and theory that underpin their practice, whilst never losing sight of the joy at the heart of their work. Topics include therapeutic storytelling; language and communication; interactive and multi-sensory storytelling; and technology. Each chapter includes top tips, and signposts further training for practitioners who want to start using stories in their own work, making this book a crucial and comprehensive guide to storytelling practice with diverse learners. This new edition: · has been fully updated to reflect the way in which this field of storytelling has grown and developed · uses a broad range of chapters, structured in a way that guides the reader through the conceptualisation of a storytelling approach towards its practical application · includes an additional chapter, sharing the lived experiences of storytellers who identify as having a disability. Full of inspiring ideas to be used with people of all ages and with a range of needs, this book will be an invaluable tool for education professionals, as well as therapists, youth workers, counsellors and theatre practitioners working in special education.