Play is the Work of the Child

Mr. Rogers said it best, "Play is the work of Childhood." As Developmental Therapists, we often come in to a child's home to help with many needs and may hear from some parents, "so, you're going to just play? We play all day." But, there are many different types of play, and children go through stages of play, from cause and effect play (what will happen if I drop this toy off my high chair, what will happen if I press this button?) to functional play (pushing a car back and forth, putting items in and out of containers, and stacking items) to imaginative play (making dolls talk to each other, pretending to feed animals, pretending a fire truck is saving an animal or person), to more evolved symbolic play (playing house, using items for things other than their intended purposes-a block becomes a phone, a circle becomes a cracker, etc, playing dress up and creating characters and align about what they are doing, pretending the child is a fireman and saving people). 

Why is this important and what do  DT's have to do with this? Sometimes children are stuck at a level of play younger than their age level. So a 2 year old may still be at a cause and effect stage, when they should be doing more imaginative play. We can't just go in and make them start playing imaginatively. We need to scaffold these skills. So, we start out showing parents how to first help them play with toys functionally. Not just dumping them out and running away, but taking one out at a time and using it for it's intended purposes, then working to put that away (or, if it's being used with another toy t play, that's fine too). Once we can see that the child has accomplished each stage, we are able to help move on to the next stage of play. And while we are doing this, we are constantly assessing other areas as well. Is the child using their hands appropriately,? Are they able to cross the midline to grab toys? Are they able to navigate their environment to gain a toy? Are they able to pick up small toys with a pincer grasp, a fist grasp or a raking grasp depending on age level? 

All of these are things necessary for the child to grow and develop appropriately and DT's can help in this area. Now, more than ever, children need play. Right now, we are in a time of crisis where we cannot see family members that we may have seen daily or weekly. We are FaceTiming instead of seeing people face too face. Your therapists may be doing phone consults instead of seeing you face to face in order to obey the shelter in place order (depending on your state). Children need play in order to work out their feelings as well. Children use play not only to gain skills but also to work out anxieties. You may see children using dolls to express emotions such as sadness or being scared. You may see children doing more crashing play because that is how they know how to express their anger and anxiety if they don't have words yet. You may also see more meltdowns if your child has sensory issues. And play involving heavy work can help with this as well. 

A good play activity to help Self-Regulation from the book "70 Play Activities," by Lynne Kenney, that you can adapt to different ages is called "walk with me". What you do is call the child to walk with you and as you walk to their pace, add something on the fourth beat like a clap, stomp, or whatever feels appropriate. Then ask if they would like to be the leader (depending on age appropriateness.) They can add anything the like from stomping, to animal sounds, animal walks, etc. You can adapt this to slightly older children having them start off walking like certain animals, add in jumps, skips, and then do 2 steps like one animal, a jump, a step like a different animal. You can adapt this however you like. "This activity moves around the defensive brain to engage the thinker in a connected and collaborative way with a child who may be anxious, nervous or sad."