Using “Play” in Therapy

The first time a therapist came to take my child to therapy, she told my son, “Come on! Let’s go play!” I was so confused by this phrase. I thought we came for therapy. After the session, I asked the therapist, “Is he going back there to play?” While in my head I was secretly thinking, Why is he going back to play? He can play at home. Why are we paying for him to play? Luckily, we had an incredible therapist that told me that she would show me next session what they were doing and the importance of using play in therapy.

            The following week, I went to the back with my son and his therapist. She got out a barn and farm animals. She started playing with the farm animals and used them as a tool to promote speech. She would pick up the cow and say, “Cow, moo.” My son would laugh. She said it again, and then handed him the cow. He would play with the cow, and put it in the barn. She then pointed to the cow and once again said, “Cow, moo.”As a teacher, I began to think about this exercise. Wow! Play was helping my son learn how to communicate through a multi-sensory approach. He was seeing, hearing, and touching the object he was to communicate about. He was also learning about expression and socialization (taking turns) through this simple approach.

            After she put up the farm and animals, she got out a pan, plates, and pretend food. She did the same thing. She used single words or two word phrases to communicate during play. She said, “Pan.” She would then hand it to my son to explore, and said it again, “Pan.” She said “pan” a few more times, and then grabbed some food, and put it in the pan. Then, she worked on the word “cook”. She would say, “Cook food.”  After that, she got out the plates and put the food on the plates. She said, “Plate” and “Food on plate.” Then, she said, “Eat food.” She pretended to eat the food, and my son became confused. She tried again, but he didn’t understand imaginary play or how to be creative. She then encouraged me to buy pretend food and practice this exercise at home. It was important for his cognitive and social development that he learn imaginary play. She also included that picking up the food, balancing it in a pan, and then dumping the food from the pan onto the plate was great for his motor skills too.

            I left therapy that day with a new perspective on the word play. I learned that through play a child can work on: communication, expression, social skills, cognitive skills, motor skills, creativity, and critical thinking. You can encourage developing these things at home to by following these tips I got about play:

1.      Use their interests to get their attention. If they are interested in trains, start playing with a train.

 

2.      Use single words or short phrases and repeat them while playing (if child is developing language). For example, you would say, “Train” and “Choo Choo”. Also use single words or phrases to describe what they are doing. For example: “Push train.” If your child is more advanced, use sentences or conversation . For example, you would say, “The train goes fast.”, “Where is the train going?”, or “Why is the train going there?”

 

3.      Encourage social interaction. If your child needs a toy opened, do not open it until they sign or say “help me”, “open”, or “open please”. Do not put the toy away until they sign or say “finish” or “all done”. You can facilitate these phrases when you see your child needs help or is done. You can also facilitate this when you think it is time to move onto something else.

 

4.      Model how to play with the object, and then give the child a chance to mimic.

 

5.      Have them identify parts of their toys (cognitive and language development- “What is this?”) or cause/ effect relations (critical thinking- “Why did the train fell off the track?”).

 

6.      Have fun. The more fun you are having, the more they will try to engage.

 

Play can be difficult for a child with special needs, but is needed for their development. I have learned that I needed to change my views on play to best help my child at home. I hope these tips help you with your child as well.