playscape - WHERE CO-PARENTING IS ALL FUN AND GAMES!
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Playscape helps parents create a healthy foundation for co-operative parenting through play.
There will be an on-site location which offers in-person child-centered therapy. The site would provide childcare for young kids which serves as both a convenience and gentle reminder to the parents that they are here for their child/children. Co-parenting therapy sessions take place in a separate space. Here, licensed therapists make each party feel heard, ensure they have the tools to work through disagreements, and ultimately help them find comfortable balance in this area of their relationship.
In the second half of the session, the child/children are incorporated into the therapeutic process through play-centered activities and exercises where the group works as a team to accomplish tasks and solve problems. Framed as games to excite and engage their little ones, they will be guided through physical, mental, and creative challenges that not only enrich the child’s development but strengthen cooperation between parents as they become united in the goal of helping their child/children understand and excel at the task.
Principles
Play - A common quality shared by the system is a sense of playfulness. This is important to the system because it is central to the method of co-parenting therapy. The program should be fun and exciting not only for the children, but for the parents. These relationships may be stressful, so appealing to “play” through our system elements can encourage everyone to loosen up and have fun. The symbols for the early learning modules are a huge motif that represent the idea of “play”. They are what connects parents to their children, and how they can target certain skills through educational activities. In their simplicity they can easily be incorporated into all ventures the brand may pursue. The rainbow stripes appeal to play and imagination, embodying the bright, poppy colors of childhood toys and games. In this way, they are familiar to children while taking parents back to their own childhoods.
Continuity - The rainbow stripes symbolize the diverse yet unending journey that parents take with their children, and that we all take with learning. We aim to instill the message that relationships must be continuously worked on, never left to the wayside. As it refers to learning, it also means that each set of learning modules relate to the others, coming full circle in the end. There is a callback to this quality in the logotype, where the “s” resembles an infinity symbol.
Accessibility - Because this program must appeal to both adults and children, the system must be simplified while still conductive to educational teachings that may involve large bodies of text. Because of this, I simplify the various elements as much as possible. The logotype features a sans serif to convey a soft, welcoming quality. The body text must remains a serif for increased readability, but retain that approachable, round quality. The navy blue color was added to the color scheme to be used where legibility is paramount.
EXAMPLE CARDS
A Star Is Born
(45 minutes)
Create your own short 3-minute play - allowing your child/children to create and cast you as the stars of the show. Help them develop a plot with a beginning, middle, and end and a title that ties it all together. Invite them to select costumes, props, and a proper backdrop to flesh out the story. Let them come up with silly lines, write or type up scripts, then get ready to put on a show – and don’t be afraid to put some gusto into your performance! You can put on the show just for them, or invite family and friends to watch their creation come to life.
My Favorite Things
(30 minutes)
This fun game targets all 5 senses – touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Give them a bag or basket and instruct your little one(s) to search the house and bring back items which represent their favorite things in each category. Give them a list with each sense written out, followed by 3 blank spaces for them to fill in with the names of their items. For those overwhelmed or in need of a little extra help, accompany them on their hunt for items fitting each category, and work with them to write out the words after finding each one. This sensory activity encourages them to think about their 5 senses, keep track of an ordered list, and motivates them by giving them the opportunity to share or remind you of all the things they love!
Paint By Feelings
(1 hour)
It’s time to get abstract – challenge your little one(s) to paint a series of 5 small abstract artworks to express how they feel about the people, places, and things in their life. If they are having trouble thinking and creating abstractly, allow them to paint something which reminds them of the person/place/thing they are depicting. Don’t be afraid to let them get messy with it, mixing paints and using unconventional tools to create interesting textures and colors. Be sure to dress them in “junk clothes” and prepare your art space accordingly with newspapers or a tarp. Give them freedom to do their thing while you work on your own pieces depicting the same selected subjects. Then, do a show and tell about your creations and what they mean to you. Give them positive reinforcement and offer to hang their work somewhere in the house. Possible topics: mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, pets, school, home, sports, after-school activities, school subjects, etc.
Recipe For Success
(1 hour+)
Select a kid-friendly recipe to create from scratch – we suggest chocolate-chip cookies, banana bread, pizza, chicken noodle soup, or macaroni and cheese! Be sure to try something with varied and measured ingredients. Write or print out a list of ingredients and simplified instructions, and walk them through the cooking process from start to finish. Invite them to measure out the ingredients, and don’t be afraid if they go a little over or under. Instruct them to delineate grown-up tasks to you, like pre-heating the oven or stirring on the stove-top. When your culinary creation is complete, it’s time for a taste test! Encourage them to describe the outcome by asking questions about the taste, texture, and their overall satisfaction with the result. What did they like about it? Dislike about it? What do they wish it had more or less of? Help them to isolate which ingredients or behaviors created which effect on the taste and texture of the final product. (I.e. if the macaroni and cheese was too soupy, what might we use more or less of to improve it? If the cookies were too hard and crunchy, what should we change about the instructions next time?) Most importantly, repeat the process at a later date with tweaks based on their conclusions about the original recipe. Soon enough they’ll have created a perfect recipe that’s all their own!
Face It
(15 minutes)
It’s time to practice your acting chops – take turns acting out strong emotions using just your faces. Think happy, sad, scared, angry, disgusted, relaxed, surprise, etc. Once they’ve guessed the emotion, write out the word on a flashcard in big, bold letters. Have your child read out each word, then flip the card over and ask them to think of and write down some past experiences that have made them feel that way. Once they’ve completed the activity, share some of your own experiences and which emotion they made you feel.
Materials:
Polyurethane Foam Body
Washable Vinyl Cover
