By: Whitlie Rose-Stephens

Play IS Therapy

You walk into our clinic for the first time and look around. There are kids on swings, children giggling in the floor, a child/therapist duo playing ‘Pop the Pig’ in the corner, and two older boys are climbing the rock wall and dive bombing into a ball pit. 

“I thought this was supposed to be therapy,” you think. “These kids and therapists are just playing! My daughter plays just fine. She needs help holding her pencil and zipping her jacket!”

You, my friend, are 100% correct, but there is so much more going on that meets the eye. Let me explain. It’s been heavily clear in the research since the 1980s, and especially the 1990s, that children learn and grow best through play.  Their brains are hardwired to seek joy, imaginative schemes, and do what feels good. Play-based therapy is not only supported by research, but it is essential to helping families and kiddos meet their goals. 

Let’s go back to the kids you saw when you walked in. Children must be regulated (feeling happy and safe) to learn, so yes, all of our kids are having fun… most of the time. Have you ever tried to make a toddler leave a super fun place? Yikes! So, of course we have meltdowns and struggles, all of which we work through, but in general this is a place of joy and fun. 

The child playing ‘Pop the Pig’ is heavily working on hand strength and dexterity — both are needed for daily fine motor tasks, like zipping your jacket.  The two boys climbing the rock wall and crashing are both really struggling with social skills and writing at school. Climbing a rock wall takes A LOT of hand strength and coordination, but they’re also working together to synchronize turn taking, copying each others’ ‘rad moves, bro,’ and understanding one another’s body language.

So you see, PLAY IS PEDIATRIC THERAPY. They are one in the same and cannot be separated. Don’t get me wrong, there are situations where we do have to sit down and do the hard stuff, but it will always be sandwiched between bouts of running, giggling, positive interactions, and most importantly, fun. 

Our job, as therapists, is not to make your child play or engage how we want. Our job is to encourage them to play how they want and to make it therapeutic. We would love to help your child play, learn, and achieve anything they want. We can’t wait to play with you!