Collaborative Play with LEGO for Children with ASD & ADHD
Edmond Scannell
Jan 12th (7pm)
Collaborative Play with LEGO for Children
with ASD & ADHD, is an effective form
of therapeutic play for children with a wide range of emotional and behavioural
difficulties including depression, anxiety, aggression and social issues.
Children use play as a form of communication in everyday life. In Collaborative
Play, children use play to express themselves. Children enter into a dynamic
relationship with the play facilitator, i.e. the teacher, which enables them to
express, explore and make sense of areas such as turn-taking, sharing and eye
contact.
Many child psychiatrists and psychologists
believe that therapeutic play is an integral way to teach social skills, calm
anxiety, and improve self-esteem in autistic children and children with ADHD,
and related neurobiological conditions.
Play is a child’s natural way of
recovering from daily emotional upheavals. Many children best express and challenge themselves through
play. Using games and activities to encourage growth and a sense of wellbeing is
the cornerstone of therapeutic play. Learn how you can teach valuable life
skills to children of all ages with these recommended Lego sets and games.
Course Aims
The purpose of
this course is to pique your interest in the process of setting up a
Collaborative Play group in your classroom and/or a room in the school. On this
course you will learn lots of interesting things about Lego and its therapeutic
nature, but you will also specifically learn about Collaborative Lego set
building; Freestyle building; Brick Club Rules; Brick Club Points; Brick Club
Levels and Certificates; and The Role of the Adult Facilitator, to name but a
few. These skills will enable you to set
up your own Lego Club, whether in school or after school and it will give you
the confidence to run the club just the way it should. Throughout the course
there are photos and short video clips from an Irish Primary School which
showcase a very successful Lego therapy club and these will set you on the
right path to happy pupils, happy parents and happy staff!
Specific Learning
Outcomes
- To improve and sustain teaching and learning through play-based learning
- To ensure teachers understand, appreciate and deploy a ‘Learning through Play’ methodology to classroom activities
- To grow and cement concepts, skills and dispositions through play
- To build key skills and confidence in the use of manipulatives for playful facilitation of curriculum, i.e. SSE and Wellbeing
- To motivate, support and grow teachers to learn, understand and apply new approaches and methods across the broader integrated, skills curriculum
- To provide teachers with the tools and support to confidently innovate and implement new approaches to learning in their classrooms
- To have a positive influence on learner wellbeing achievement by enhancing lifelong learning skills for all learners using the Therapeutic Play principles, practices and pedagogy
- To provide teachers with the skills to enhance children's physical, social and emotional literacy development
- To develop the required skills of the future through practicing working collaboratively and creatively, whilst communicating clearly and thinking critically using Lego with Therapeutic Play