The thesis deals with an understanding of the importance and usefulness of play and play activities for school counseling. The theoretical part focuses on understanding of children's play in relation to their development and learning. It contain the presentation of the characteristic of play activities and the connection between play therapy techniques and particular counselling (social pedagogical) strategies. Thesis follows the theoretical basis of child psychology and child's play development (developmental psychological theories), classification and evaluation of the play, (child-centered) play therapy and counseling. The main focus of the thesis is the use of play as means of expression and communication within a school counseling process. The purpose of the empirical part is to obtain the opinion and practical experiences of school counselors about the usefulness and importance of the play in the context of school counseling. The findings of the research (which includes quantitative and qualitative part and was conducted among elementary school counselors) suggest that play activities are one of the most important activities and methods of (counseling) work. The use of play can help professionals to collaborate with children in achieving different (counseling) purposes to solve different types of problems. The play and play activities has to be adapted to various factors, which include both; the characteristics of the child (age, skills), the characteristics of counselors (understanding, skills, attributes) and their relationships as well as the characteristics of the specific difficulties, and other factors that affect play (integration). The study is an overview of current trends and position of play as one of the possible ways of counseling. It contains a representation of current practice in the use of play and its connection with foreign practices. In addition, it focuses on a review of potential changes in the field of integration of play in counseling
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