Role Plays and Creative Activities: Teaching Social Skills and Self-Understanding

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Role Plays and Creative Activities: Teaching Social Skills and Self-Understanding presents over 150 role plays, micro role plays (role plays that run for a few minutes), creative activities, and guided imagery (stories with psychological content to be read to the children) which Dr. Christopher Glenn has developed and used for over thirty years. Everyday people, like parents and people who want to run activity groups for children, can use these activities to have fun with children in the 8 11 age range. Professionals, teachers, counselors, and students-in-training can take advantage of the psychological and social nature of the activities to foster the social and emotional growth of elementary aged children. Focusing on self-understanding, self-control, and the development of social skills, a constructive group experience can effectively teach children positive outcomes. This text includes detailed notes on how to set up and run the role play group, so anyone with basic skills in working with groups of children can encourage emotional and social growth.

Reviews

Role play is my child's favorite activity of the week. I love how it builds her confidence without her even realizing it, but it also has helped her work out problems at home and with friends. What she's learning about group work now she will carry with her into college and in any career she chooses. -- Allison McCormick, parent, Portland, Oregon
My daughter's imagination, creativity, and cooperation skills have been greatly enhanced through her participation in Dr. Glenn's Role Play classes. She has had a wonderful time and doesn't even realize that she's learning. Bravo! -- Elizabeth Rouffy, parent, Portland, Oregon
Christopher Glenn has written a very useful and engaging book on the use of role playing with children. He thoughtfully and wisely informs the reader with explicit detail about how best to conduct role playing activities (as well as other creative pedagogical designs), attending to the concrete details of how to set up such activities, how to explain their nature and processes to children, and how to debrief them for the greatest educational advantage. The book contains a large number of specific role play designs, with the authors notes about when in the course of a school year they might be used (early, later) and at what age levels different activities might best work. Advice also is provided to the educator wishing to develop her/his unique activities. This book is a fount of wisdom, gained from the authors vast experience as an educator. It will be very useful to school teachers, social workers, and counselors working with children and to parents seeking home activities that might buttress childrens personal, interpersonal, and civil learning at school. -- Mark Chesler, coauthor, Role-Playing Methods in the Classroom
Through extensive research, and grounded in everyday classroom practice, Christopher Glenn, Ph.D. the author of this book explores important issues surrounding role-playing within a Montessori curriculum and environment. The book presents childrens views on, and responses to their role-play environment, alongside examples of good classroom practice. The author presents the childs perspective on play in schools throughout, and argues firmly against a formal, inflexible learning environment for young children. Dr. Glenn presents a work integrating the work of Maria Montessori into an environment of play, creative activities and guided Imagery. This book will be fascinating to all students and teachers in the field of education and in early childhood studies. Researchers and course leaders will also find this book a source and guide for role-playing within any educational environment. -- Therese Gutting, administrator, Franciscan Montessori Earth School/St. Francis Academy, Portland, Oregon
I am delighted to be able to recommend Role Plays and Creative Activities: Teaching Social Skills and Self-Understanding. Every day I am contacted by parents of gifted children who are having trouble fitting in with their age-mates or coming to terms with themselves as 'outside the norm.' Although it is designed for neurotypical children, I believe a program such as the one described would be a perfect intervention for gifted children, who often have significant emotional and social needs due to their unusual learning styles. A role play group such as the one described in the book could help them work out how to get along in a world that sometimes feels alien, because few others see the world the way they do. As an educator, I also appreciate the tips for using these activities in a whole-class environment as well as in a dedicated extracurricular program. I look forward to being able to share this book with our local Gifted Youth Coordinators to enhance their work with our young members. -- Lessa J. Scherrer, National Gifted Youth Coordinator, American Mensa, Ltd.
My daughter has raved about it all through the year and wishes she could continue taking part! She even brings some of the role play 'games/scenarios' home and makes the whole family play along and experience it. That tells me that these sessions have had quite an impact on her. -- Sheela Preuitt, parent, Portland Oregon

Author Bio

Dr. Christopher Glenn, a trained child psychologist, has led an estimated 900 individual role play groups over the past thirty years. He also works as an education and opinion research consultant (www.glennresearch.com).