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On Thursday 26 September, Nic Golightly will lead an online Live Classroom on how to incorporate play and creativity into life story work.
Here, Nic gives an insight into the impact play can have on care-experienced children and young people, and shares some of what she’ll talk about in her Live Classroom.
Play – it’s child’s play isn’t it? It’s not really that simple! As adults we step away from play and creativity, unless it’s part of the work we do. (I really enjoy the words of graphic designer Saul Bass: ‘Work? It’s just serious play’).
And even when it is part of our work, we can still get stuck.
In my Live Classroom I’ll be talking about how we can make a structure for play in our time with young people. How can we frame things for children, without making them too adult? How do we offer an activity and space, which has wiggle room and be open to adaptation?
There are plenty of artists out there. But you don’t need to be one in order to use play and creativity in your work!
It terrifies many people to be creative and put pen to paper. I don’t know how many times I’ve started an All About Me Creative Experience session and the adults in the room have said to me “Oh no, I’m not creative at all”, “I won’t be very good at this”, “I haven’t done any art since school.”
That’s just fine, but you can learn how to structure creative sessions and be open to having a go.
I like to challenge everyone to not be an artist. Be a creative thinker, do-er, a person who is up for showcasing that they are happy to experiment and get it wrong sometimes.
One of our All About Me Creative Experience mantras is ‘You can do as much or as little as you like’. Although – I would encourage you to do as much as you can to incorporate playfulness into your work.
Putting yourself in the shoes of the young people you work with is really important. It helps us connect with the way we and others feel. If we can experience things and feel empathy for those around us, we grow.
To help you get in the right mindset, I recommend reading Michael Rosen’s Book of Play>>
I have worked with thousands of people over the last 20 years and I can never fully imagine all of the outcomes we will create when collaborating together. I do know that real life change happens though.
I can’t track every single one and know what change occurred, but I can say that there has certainly been stories and examples of small and humongous change as a result of the work I have done as part of the Creative Life Story Work team, including:
If you are a social worker, family worker, a therapeutic life story worker or participatory worker within a local authority, working with children and young people aged six and over, this session will provide you with real life skills and activities to use with the young people you engage with.
It might also pique your inner artist too – you never know!
I’ll show you three simple creative activities and you’ll gain practical insight into creative methods of engagement, with a therapeutic approach designed specifically for care-experienced children and young people.
Find out more and book a place for the Live Classroom>>
We’re really looking forward to meeting you and sharing our creative methods!
Nic Golightly is an experienced graphic designer and visual artist with a predominantly participatory practice. Her work specialises in playful techniques for engagement and creative development, with collaboration and co-creation essential to its success.
