Fixed package
Play, Stories and Creative Expression
One purchase, a connected learning pathway.
Play, Stories and Creative Expression brings together three complementary courses, each with eight modules. The curriculum combines subject knowledge, responsible role boundaries and practical work.
Who can attend?
People wishing to run creative activities with children, teachers and educational support workers, parents, storytellers and people interested in psychology. Open to everyone; no particular profession or diploma is specified for participation. Employment and practice authority depend on legislation and employer requirements.
Curriculum
Play Therapy
1. The developmental role of play
Types of play, symbolic play and theoretical links between play and development. Practice: prepare a play-types chart for different developmental levels.
2. Distinguishing therapy, education and activities
Differences in goals, settings and professional roles across free play, educational play and clinical play therapy. Practice: write a case-comparison matrix.
3. A child-centred approach
Empathetic relationships, safe spaces, respecting children's expression and limits on interpretation. Practice: develop a child-centred communication example.
4. Play materials and environments
Material types, safe use, privacy and age-appropriate arrangements. Practice: design a safe playroom layout.
5. Observing feelings and play
Objectively recording behaviour without diagnosis and distinguishing assumptions from actual observations. Practice: complete a descriptive observation form.
6. Principles for communicating with families
Explaining general processes, confidentiality, consent and referral to an appropriately qualified professional when needed. Practice: write a parent-information and role-boundary statement.
7. Recognising warning signs
Safety, records and appropriate referral when neglect, abuse or serious psychological distress is suspected. Practice: prepare a risk-awareness decision tree.
8. Ethics and professional practice boundaries
Clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment are undertaken by authorised professionals. Practice: create a professional-boundary and referral checklist.
Story Therapy
1. The developmental functions of stories
Connections between stories, language, imagination and emotional expression, with age-appropriate content. Practice: develop story-selection criteria for different ages.
2. Selecting texts and themes
Safe, non-judgmental narratives about fear, separation, friendship and courage. Practice: design a thematic story collection.
3. Storytelling techniques
Voice, emphasis, rhythm, pauses and interactive questions. Practice: prepare a five-minute reading script.
4. Emotional awareness through stories
Emotion vocabulary, character perspectives and respecting children's voluntary sharing. Practice: develop open-ended question cards about emotions.
5. Creative follow-up activities
Safe participation through puppets, drama, drawing and alternative endings. Practice: prepare a post-story activity pack.
6. Sensitive subjects and ethics
Avoiding pressure to disclose traumatic experiences, and avoiding interpretive or treatment claims. Practice: write an ethical-boundary case analysis.
7. Inclusive narratives
Texts that respect cultural, language and family diversity, with accessible visual supports. Practice: adapt a story to two accessibility levels.
8. Workshop structure and evaluation
Storytelling goals, safe group flow, children's feedback and activity evaluation. Practice: design a 30-minute storytelling workshop.
Drawing Analysis and Storytelling
1. A developmental perspective on children's drawings
Developmental variation in scribbling, shapes, representation and storytelling; avoiding conclusions from a single drawing. Practice: prepare examples of developmental diversity.
2. Distinguishing observation from interpretation
Describing visible lines, colours, figures and narratives without projective diagnostic claims. Practice: create a descriptive drawing-observation template.
3. Talking with children about drawings
Non-leading questions and prioritising the child's own explanations. Practice: prepare drawing-conversation question cards.
4. Creating visual stories
Beginnings, development, endings, characters, settings and plot. Practice: create a six-frame visual story.
5. Engaging storytelling
Clear speech, gestures, body language, voice and narrative pacing. Practice: write a short storytelling script.
6. Using creative materials
Safe use of puppets, picture cards, story circles and activity materials. Practice: create a storytelling-bag materials list.
7. Participation and inclusion
Drawing and movement options for children who do not want to speak, and adapting for language differences. Practice: prepare alternative participation plans.
8. Portfolio and workshop design
Family permission, photograph use, selecting examples and respecting children's rights in portfolios. Practice: design an art-and-storytelling workshop portfolio.
Integrated practical portfolio
Prepare a themed four-session creative storytelling workshop, story text, drawing materials, open-ended question cards, a draft parent briefing and an ethics checklist.
Suggested learning and assessment
Understand the concepts, child safety and age-appropriate ethical boundaries; produce module assignments, observation forms and sample activity plans; then integrate the three courses in one portfolio with self-review and feedback.
Story and material design 40%, sample-session facilitation 30%, ethics and case work 30%.
Professional boundaries and certificate scope
Play therapy, story therapy and drawing analysis are covered as theoretical awareness within professional boundaries. The certificate does not authorise clinical diagnosis, psychotherapy or psychological diagnosis from children's drawings.
Frequently asked questions
Which courses are included?
Play Therapy · Story Therapy · Drawing Analysis and Storytelling
Who can attend?
People wishing to run creative activities with children, teachers and educational support workers, parents, storytellers and people interested in psychology. Open to everyone; no particular profession or diploma is specified for participation. Employment and practice authority depend on legislation and employer requirements.
Does this package confer professional practice authority?
Play therapy, story therapy and drawing analysis are covered as theoretical awareness within professional boundaries. The certificate does not authorise clinical diagnosis, psychotherapy or psychological diagnosis from children's drawings.