The influence of sandplay and imaginative storytelling on children's learning and emotional-behavioral development in an Icelandic primary school

The motivation behind the study on sandplay and storytelling was the assumption that creative imagination is a powerful tool in the process of learning and emotional-behavioral development, an assumption grounded in scholarship that emphasizes the importance of play in child development and learning. The study investigated and evaluated the use of sandplay and storytelling and its influence on children's learning and emotional-behavioral development. The study took place in a primary school in Iceland. The pupils observed had learning disabilities, poor reading competence, attention and/or emotional problems. Each pupil made 12 sandplay creations and stories during the school year. Among the assessment tools were psychological tests: WISC, Achenbach and ADHD scales. All participants made progress in one or more area under observation. It is of special interest that eight pupils made significant improvement in their WISC scores. The most striking result occurred in perceptual scores, as 16 of 19 participants made progress in this area. The outcome of the psychological tests suggests that sandplay and imaginative storytelling facilitate children's emotional-behavioral development. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.