Evaluation of Preschool Creative Play Program: Assessing Virtual Adaptation

Abstract

Creative Play is a trauma-informed preschool theatre arts program in which Teaching Artists (TAs) from the Children’s Theatre Company lead 20 to 30 minute sessions with a preschool class. During each session, children engage in imaginative play, naming of emotions, and mindfulness activities. TAs use movement, sensory integration, and incorporate opportunities for children to make decisions, express and share their ideas, and explore a spectrum of emotions to engage and empower children. Creative Play was delivered in a virtual format for the first time in the Spring of 2021. Some sessions were synchronous virtual workshops, which consisted of a TA interacting with a classroom of children over a Zoom video call, and other workshops were pre-recorded videos of the TA presenting the content with opportunities for classroom staff to stop the video and interact with the children. Data was collected through TA interviews and classroom staff surveys to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of Creative Play’s virtual delivery. Findings showed that children engaged in the virtual adaptation to a fairly high degree. The TAs made specific changes to their delivery in response to the virtual format, and generally felt positively about the program’s ability to be effective virtually.