Creative Play with a Pinch of Salt

Introduction to the Project Team

  • Paula Hopkins C.Psychol.
  • Melanie Carte BSc (Hons)
  • Madalaine Nicol BSc (Hons), MSc
  • Molly McElligott
  • Hannah Holding
  • Paula Hopkins C.Psychol.

    Senior Educational Psychologist and Service Manager

  • Melanie Carte BSc (Hons)

    Senior Speech and Language Therapist and Service Manager

  • Madalaine Nicol BSc (Hons), MSc

    Lead Assistant Psychologist

  • Molly McElligott

    Psychological Service Assistant

  • Hannah Holding

    Psychological Service Assistant


Introduction to the ‘Creative Play with a Pinch of SALT Programme’

Creative Play with a Pinch of SALT is a programme designed by EPIC with generous funding from the Laurel Trust. Informed by the Solihull Approach (endorsed by NICE guidelines) and work by Margot Sunderland (2016), EPIC have worked collaboratively with Educational Psychology and Speech and Language therapy to develop a parent-child programme and class programme using ‘creative play’ to target relationship building and language development.

The Creative Play Journey provides quality time for classrooms, parents and children to take part in fun and creative activities designed to transport them together into a world of sensation, imagination, wonder, delight and shared laughter.

The programmes aim to achieve the following outcomes:

  • Help to build positive relationships with children and between children through ‘creative play’, to improve mental health and wellbeing
  • Help parents and adults to model and facilitate quality language and communication to improve child development
  • Reduce the risk of mental health difficulties amongst children, to improve educational achievement and life chances

Training Video: Creative Play with a Pinch of SALT Programme

The recorded training video below explains the underlying psychological and speech and language principles of the programme. Please ensure any staff member wishing to run the programme watches this training. As this video was recorded in the context of the project, project logistics and ‘group rules’ are touched upon. You do not need to enforce these; however, the content of the training is necessary for the successful running of the programme.

Click here to downlaod the presentation slides


The Programme

Click HERE to recieve access to the full programme

EPIC SALT Website

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