What’s the value in play? Is it just play?

Play is a powerful tool that is not always given the space to be seen or understood for all its glory and worth. As we enter National Play Therapy Week, here are some valuable pieces of play and Play Therapy to be mindful of.

P-Practice

The act of play gives kids the space to practice and learn new skills. Through play individually or with peers, children learn to fine tune essential skills such as fine and gross motor skills as well social skills just to name a few. If you have ever observed recess at an elementary school, what you are seeing is growth in action. Kids learn to negotiate terms of any game, collaborate on how to best manage interpersonal interactions and resolve issues as they arise with others. Play is used by children to interact and engage with the world around them.

L-Language

While words are used to communicate as an adult, play is the language of a child. It is natural instinct for children to use play to show struggles or successes they have been through, resolve difficulties, relieve stress and so much more. The right side of the brain– which is responsible for things like emotions, imagination and processing patterns/shapes develops before the left side of the brain which is responsible for processing language and speech. This means that we feel before anything else. Play is language of the body which allows children to “speak” what they feel. It takes a trained eye to understand what different forms of play mean and how to use play in a therapeutic sense. Much like a talk therapist would help someone through the process of self-reflection and come to new, more productive ways of being and healing, play therapists help youth make sense of life experiences and come to new ways of solving problems in a language more natural to them.