Supporting Young Children to Cope, Build Resilience, and Heal from Trauma through Play A Practical Guide for Early Childhood Educators

Now more than ever, there is a need for early childhood professionals to comprehensively integrate trauma-sensitive practices into their work with children and families. This essential resource offers instructional strategies teachers can use daily to support their students dealing with trauma in early learning environments. Readers will learn to create opportunities for children to use their natural language—play—to reduce their stress, to cope with adversity, to build resilience, and even to heal from trauma. Nicholson and Kurtz provide vignettes, case study examples, textboxes, photographs, and descriptions of adapted therapeutic strategies ready for implementation in the classroom. Practical and comprehensive, this book is ideal for both prospective and veteran early childhood educators seeking to understand trauma-informed practices when working with young children (birth–8) in a range of environments.

Introduction 1. Learning to Observe and Value the Stories Children Tell Us through Play2. Building Consistent, Attuned, and Responsive Relationships with Young Children through Play3. Arranging the Environment to Reduce Children’s Stress and Support Healing through Play 4. Play-Based Instructional Strategies that Support Children to Cope, Build Resilience, and Heal from Toxic Stress and Trauma5. Case Studies of the Power of Play to Support Children’s Stress Reduction, Resilience, and Healing

Julie Nicholson, PhD, is a Professor of Practice, Associate Editor of Early Child Development and Care, author, international speaker/trainer, and MBA candidate (2023) concentrating on finance and data analytics. Julie Kurtz, MS, is an author and national speaker consulting and training on trauma and resilience. Julie is the founder and CEO of the Center for Optimal Brain Integration®.