Therapeutic Play Practice and Child Development Certificate

Learner Profile, this programme is aimed at learners who:

• Have a particular interest in the therapeutic powers of play and wish to acquire skills to facilitate children and young people to overcome negative influences and circumstances in their lives, and facilitate them in achieving their potential.
• Wish to further their own knowledge and understanding of what play is and how it supports childrens holistic development and learn more about the influences of the environment on this development.
• Wish to attain a recognized qualification and embark on, or enhance, a professional career in working with children in a range of settings.
• Wish to further their own knowledge and understanding of play and its developmental, educational and therapeutic applications.
• Would like to upskill to enhance employment prospects and/or job satisfaction and promotion opportunities
• This award will also be of interest to holders of the Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education and to others including teachers, therapists, social workers etc whose professional life brings them into regular contact with at-risk children and children in crisis. It is also suitable for a broad range of childcare staff in community based or residential settings.

Entry Criteria:
To access this programme learners should have reached the standards of knowledge, skills and competence associated with level 5 on the National Framework of Qualifications. This may have been achieved through a formal qualification or through relevant life and work experiences.

Programme objectives

It is the aim of this programme to:

• Conceptualize how play supports childrens holistic development;
• Equip participants with skills to plan and deliver, individual and group, developmentally appropriate play interventions with children and young people;
• Enable learners to focus on meeting children’s specific needs and facilitate therapeutic interventions in the context of holistic development using play;
• Develop the skills required to plan, conduct, record and analyse child observations and the ability to link observed behaviour to relevant theory;
• Enable participants to use play as a therapeutic and developmental medium in a wide range of settings including educational/learning, residential and day care, recreational and hospital;
• Equip the learner with the knowledge, skill and competence to use play and its developmental, educational and therapeutic applications.

Course Content:

• Unit 1 – Play, Child Development, and Service Provision
• Unit 2 – Child Development Theories and Theorists
• Unit 3 – Holistic Development and Play
• Unit 4 – The Art of Child Observation
• Unit 5 – Play and Behaviour Management
• Unit 6 – Plan for and Support Self-directed Play
• Unit 7 – Planning and Implementing Play Interventions: Non Directive Play Skills
• Unit 8 – Planning and Implementing Play Interventions: Therapeutic Storytelling
• Unit 9 – Planning and implementing Play Interventions: Creative Visualization
• Unit 10 – Planning and Implementing Play Interventions: Interactive Play
• Unit 11 – Planning and Implementing Play Interventions: Therapeutic Use of Puppets
• Unit 12 – Planning and Implementing Play Interventions: Medical Play
• Unit 13 – Working with Groups for Personal and Social Development
• Unit 14 – Legislation and Practice Guidelines
• Unit 15 – Professional Practice

The Therapeutic Play Skills component of this training is runs regularly at locations around Ireland including Dublin, Tralee, Galway, Limerick, Westmeath, Mountmellick, and Claremorris. See Therapeutic Play Skills page for further details and dates.

The Child Development component runs once per year. To facilitate students from diverse locations, this course runs on full days scheduled at weekends. There is also a substantial focus on the online content with extensive tutor support.