Why you don’t always need a therapist to support your child’s skills.
Therapy is work!
If your child has a delay or disability, you may feel that every hour spent in therapy is time well spent, and any time outside of therapy is “wasted.” You want to see your child excel and grow, and the age-old wisdom is to do all the therapies, all the time.
But even as early as age 2, we see children getting burnt out and exhausted. Most therapies are “play-based,” but often require children to follow directions, listen to adults, and do things outside of their comfort zone. These require your child’s brain to be active and on, and to potentially push against their natural instincts. Let’s be real, therapy is work!
Child-led play matters.
The current wisdom in parenting circles and in the research, however, is that child-led play is the way children learn. They learn social-emotional skills, they learn language, they learn regulation, and they learn other executive functioning skills that help prepare them for more complex social interactions in the future.
While therapists are doing ‘play-based therapy,’ there is a difference between a therapist playing with your child and your child playing independently without adult interference. Think back to your last week and think about how often your child was able to play the way they wanted to play without any interference? Better yet, did they do it alone or in a group?
Want some more resources to learn about the importance of play?
Check out these, and share more in the comments:
https://www.instagram.com/ei.northwestern/
Social, child-led play is where it’s at!
Spirited Play Labs has created such a space, for children to learn through free play. This style of play is essential for all children, including those who spend lots of their day in therapy.
Allowing children to play freely in a social space with others will help:
- Their confidence in who they are
- Their comfort being around other children
- Their trust in other adults as safe, friendly people
- Their creativity and imagination
- Their social problem solving
- Their focus and attention
- Their willingness to try new things
- And much, much more…
SPL for the win!
Our space is laid out intentionally, with the goal for children to use open-ended materials and equipment for their happiness and joy. They will expand their repertoire of play interests over time, and with their peers! This freedom is a beautiful thing to observe.
We know families will continue to pursue important therapeutic interventions and support their children in gaining new skills that are needed. We also hope families continue to use our membership-based play space as an additional therapy tool to put into their child’s therapy plan.
We welcome you to try out a first time visit and sign up for a membership.
