Incorporating the creative arts in an educational presentation about play: a novel strategy for enhancing communication and engagement with parents

ABSTRACT

To engage parents more fully and enhance communication with them about the benefits of play, as well as the importance of play in their own lives, a novel strategy of incorporating the creative arts in a multimedia presentation was adopted. The 50-minute presentation, called ThroughPlay, relied on collaborations with local artists and used the creative arts to help translate ideas about play in more emotionally compelling ways. This article is organized in five parts and addresses: 1) the ideas about play informing the presentation and the challenges of communicating them to parents; 2) how incorporating the arts can lead to a deeper, experiential understanding of play; 3) the steps taken to develop the arts content used in the presentation, along with examples of the artistic content; 4) the effectiveness of the presentation and parents' reactions in their own words; and 5) the benefits of arts-integration for community-engaged play advocates.

KEYWORDS:

• Play
• creative arts
• parent education
• community engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Kevin Rathunde is a professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah. His research explores the positive impact of intrinsically motivated experiences (e.g. flow, interest, and play) and how such experiences can be enhanced by family, school, and outdoor environments.

Russell Isabella is an associate professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah. Most of his research has focused on social and emotional development during infancy and childhood, children's relationships with their parents, and parent–child interaction.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by grants from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, the Kendeda Fund, and the Entrepreneurial Faculty Scholars Program at the University of Utah.