Therapeutic play allows a child to play out what they’re processing. Whether it’s trauma, life changes, loss, or more. Specific toys, coaching skills, and a safe environment help the parent use therapeutic play at home for their child’s benefit.
Years ago I started to see my kids were struggling with some things.
One was a majorly sore loser.
The other kept saying and verbalizing that he didn’t feel part of the family.
Another had started to have some cleithrophobia (fear of getting stuck) tendencies.
As I began my training in Language of Listening, I was trained in how to do therapeutic play sessions at home. 30 minute 1x a week times with my child that:
- built connection
- helped my child play out their issues
- created emotional safety in my home
- broke my enmeshment
- made me a more confident mom
- gave my children an outlet to process life
Once I started those I was amazed at how things started to shift.
👉 My son who was a sore loser calmed down. Still strategic, but stopped cheating and board flipping.
👉 My son who thought he wasn’t part of the family, stopped talking about that entirely.
👉 My other son (I have 5, okay) got his dinosaurs stuck in play-doh over and over for weeks until he has never had a single symptom of cleithrophobia since.
Learn how to do a 30 minute, 1x a week strategic play session at home with your child to help them process their life through play and build a strong connection with you.
Learn MoreWhat's in this post...
Why you should do therapeutic playtimes
Strategic play times at home – with certain toys – help your child play out their issues. Think about yourself, a grown adult. How often do you have strong feelings, intense emotions, and unresolved pain come up…
And you don’t really know what’s going on?
You, with a fully formed brain. When life happens to ours kids they sometimes aren’t sure how to process it. Where to put the info. How it fits into their life.
Playtimes give your kids a chance to deal with things so they don’t repress them. They also build a strong connective bond with you, as y’all do the playtimes. They become a special time together, without interruptions.
Pull out these fun connecting questions to share some laughs with your precious ones!
Use them at:
- meal times
- car rides
- as a “calm down” trick
- for dinner time conversation
- or any time the day is getting chaotic or
- you need a reset to connect.
How to do therapeutic playtimes
Therapists will have specific skills they’ve learned and honed for years to carry out play therapy. These therapeutic play times, or play therapy at home (but not really since you’re not a therapist) use therapeutic skills.
The same skills therapists use in the office to help kids.
For us, in Nurture and Play (developed by my mentor with Dr. Garry Landreth, a world-renowned child-centered play therapist) you’ll do these strategic times like this.
- 1x a week
- same day same time, if possible
- 30 minutes (don’t go longer)
- using specific coaching skills
- with a pre-determined set of toys (some nurture, imaginative, aggressive toys, etc.)
Learn how to do a 30 minute, 1x a week strategic play session at home with your child to help them process their life through play and build a strong connection with you.
Learn MoreWhat situations do kids process in these playtimes?
🤔 These strategic play times help with normal, but tricky stuff
- moving to new home, new community, new state, abroad, etc.
- new sibling
- adoption of other siblings (displacing birth order or not)
- sibling relationships (fighting, strife, etc.)
- starting school
- potty training (won’t train, won’t sit on potty, won’t go #2)
- coping with a life change
- friendship ups and downs
- embarrassing situations (think of one from your childhood, go!)
- accidents (bike, falls, etc.)
- loss of pet
- nightmares / fear at night
- family changes (ex. mom going back to school or work)
- moving extended family into home (or out of home)
Pull out these fun connecting questions to share some laughs with your precious ones!
Use them at:
- meal times
- car rides
- as a “calm down” trick
- for dinner time conversation
- or any time the day is getting chaotic or
- you need a reset to connect.
💗 Playtimes help with emotional stuff
- rejection (fear of it or dealing with it)
- defiance
- mood swings
- feeling passed over
- disappointment
- perfectionism tendencies
- feelings of inadequacy (can’t ride bike, trouble reading, etc.)
- failure (bad grades, not making a team, etc.)
- pressure from others’ expectations (perceived or real)
- heaviness and weariness (think: light’s gone out of your child’s eyes)
- emotional regulation
- unloading their emotional basement (read my book If Mama Ain’t Happy for more on this)
- anger management
- fear, anxiety, depression, etc.
- extreme shyness
Neglecting your own physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs for so long―in an effort to be a selfless mother―leaves you depleted. Being well blesses your family! Learn WIN WIN strategies in my upcoming book!
Learn More😢 Therapeutic play helps with tough stuff
- grief and loss
- death of loved one
- divorce
- abuse
- abandonment
- ostracism from friends/peers
- near-death experience
- separation from parent (eg. deployment, hospital stay, offshore, etc.)
- traumatic events (little t and Big T)
- phobias (helped my son with his!)
- separation anxiety (a child following you around out of fear)
- prolonged sickness (theirs or someone they love)
- family relationship problems
- bullying
Pull out these fun connecting questions to share some laughs with your precious ones!
Use them at:
- meal times
- car rides
- as a “calm down” trick
- for dinner time conversation
- or any time the day is getting chaotic or
- you need a reset to connect.
Many moms take their kids to therapy for the above issues, which is great!
Our playtimes are a great complement to any and all other strategies you already use to support your child developmentally, emotionally, physically, etc.
Learn how to do a 30 minute, 1x a week strategic play session at home with your child to help them process their life through play and build a strong connection with you.
Learn More📈 Up and up and up
- increased confidence (for child and mom)
- new skills
- self-esteem improvements
- strong attachment
- problem-solving
- resiliency
- personality changes (watching your child “bloom” aka become more themselves)
- increased ease in communication
- positive relationship between mom and child (vs. adversarial)
- increased ability to hold boundaries (mom) and to adapt to boundaries (child)
- warm and fuzzy feelings
Neglecting your own physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs for so long―in an effort to be a selfless mother―leaves you depleted. Being well blesses your family! Learn WIN WIN strategies in my upcoming book!
Learn MoreReady to learn how to do therapeutic play at home with your kids?
You can sign up for the waitlist and be notified every time the doors open up.
Learn how to do a 30 minute, 1x a week strategic play session at home with your child to help them process their life through play and build a strong connection with you.
Learn More
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