Step Into My Sessions: Let’s play!
"It's the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives." - Fred Rogers
Over the past 16 months, I have been particularly blessed, because I have my first grandchild, Niko. To love, to cuddle, to nurture, and to PLAY with! 🧸 To observe his development. To watch how he handles emotions, challenges, and successes.
Let me tell you, it’s an amazing and fabulously entertaining show!!
Like when he tried for about 10 minutes to close up a banana I had started peeling for him. 🍌
Or when he first figured out that, if you are crawling and using your hands, you can just put something in your mouth to take it along with you (don’t worry, it wasn’t a choking hazard – it was a toy with a knob that just fit perfectly!)
I am so enjoying watching him play. I can just sit. 🛋️ No laundry to do, no other kids to take care of, no dinner to make. What a luxury!! So, play has really been on my mind!
The impact of play
I very strongly feel that play is very much needed right now. By all of us, but most desperately, by the students with whom we work. COVID repercussions are still with so many of our students. 😷 World events invade the experiences of our students. Lots is happening to which play can be the antidote.
Play is not always easy for some of our students. For many reasons.
When we set up our sessions to have periods of time when the play is the work, we are giving them a gift that has the potential to bring them forward linguistically, cognitively, socially, and more. 🎁
When we allow our students a safe place to play, with appropriate materials (that may challenge them) and solid supports to help them succeed, we are working on so many skills:
Play across various age groups
About six months after the COVID shutdown ended, I had a high school group coming in. In the few minutes before we started, they found the Rokenbok factory and cars, plugged them in, and got right down to play. 🏎️
When I came in, I walked into a space of total engagement and fun! 💫
One student said, “I know we are in high school and everything, but can’t we just play with the cars?” The others agreed. I said, “Sure – just keep talking and working together like you are. And please, don’t drive the cars off the high platforms.”
Last week, I had two 3rd-grade girls come in for their first group session. They are both enamored with my Playmobil, 🏙️🚞 and begged to play with it. Sure!
Their play not only let them get to know each other in a non-pressured social way (they are both pretty anxious), but it also gave me lots to observe about their social and emotional development, their ability to connect with a peer, and how their anxieties and rigidities started showing up after about 25 minutes.
Remember, play isn’t finished in 10 minutes. It's a process of creation and exploration, and the more time we give, the more everyone gets. I learned so much about them, and they are eager to return, each feeling that they had made a friend. Time very well spent! ⏲️
I hope these ideas spark your creativity and give you PERMISSION TO PLAY!!
I have mentioned the book Dibs in Search of Self before. Even though it focuses on a child playing with a clinician rather than peers, if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it:
Here’s a quote from the author, Virginia Axline to start your week off into play:
“He was exchanging his anger and fear and anxiety
for hope and confidence and gladness.”
Happy playing to you and the students with whom you spend time!
