A communication project has opened practitioners' and parents' eyes to the power of fun and a playful attitude to children's learning, writes Ruth Thomson.

A dramatherapy and play project aimed at developing communication skills has brought benefits to children, parents and practitioners across 24 children's centres and two schools in Surrey, with participants reporting a greater appreciation of storytelling and play, and improved relationships between adult and child.

Called Communication Through Play (CTP) the project uses a mix of storytelling, puppets, make-believe, movement and drama. It was developed by a creative arts therapy organisation Marvellous Productions, which has run it in several areas including Hammersmith and Fulham, Wokingham and West Sussex.

Surrey Early Years commissioned the project after running a pilot in four of its children's centres, and over the past four years, the scheme has been rolled out to some 550 children, 330 parents and 20 practitioners.

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