Comments on: Being Playful vs Playing with Toys…What’s the Difference?

By: Dana Childress, PhD

Dana Childress, PhD — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 18:49:45 +0000

So well-said, Silvia! I completely agree about playfulness being more meaningful and helping us keep our focus where it should be, as you said, on the “person, the feelings, and the meaning of the interaction.” Thanks for joining the discussion!

By: Silvia Goodman-Lee

Silvia Goodman-Lee — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 03:57:27 +0000

It really makes therapy more meaningful when the parent, the child and the therapist are looking for ways to be playful in a familiar context. It makes us all be focused on what is really important; which is the interaction and enjoyment of learning. Playfulness reduces the level of anxiety in all participants. It increases happiness while promoting learning. When we play with toys we could become somewhat dependent on them in order to drive interactions. Toys could become the center of attention instead of the person, the feelings and the meaning of the interaction.

By: Dana Childress, PhD

Dana Childress, PhD — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 16:10:23 +0000

In reply to NANCY SILVERMAN.

Thanks Nancy!

By: NANCY SILVERMAN

NANCY SILVERMAN — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 23:31:45 +0000

This is great and this practice is long overdue. Thanks for your article and ongoing support

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:15:40 +0000

In reply to Ana.

Ana – you are not alone! Lots of folks cling to toy play because that’s just how we’ve always done EI and we all believe in the importance of play. In fact, we see it in the research too, that toy play is still the most common context for providing EI. One of the important things to remember is that toy play is just one family routine, so if we branch out and use other routines as well, we get more bang for our buck with intervention. Is the opposition you hear a resistance to not using toys, not taking toys into the home, or is it because your providers aren’t sure what to do other than play with toys? I’d love to know more about what you think. 🙂

By: Ana

Ana — Sun, 31 May 2015 02:55:00 +0000

I’m curious, I believe this will my whole heart, but face such opposition from providers that don’t want to change what they have been doing.

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 18:12:27 +0000

In reply to Jennifer Sievers, MEd. ECSE.

I think you aren’t alone there, Jennifer. It was the same with me when I started. We brought toy bags and played because that was just what we did. I remember sitting in living rooms that looked remarkably like Toys ‘R Us and yet we still played with what I brought. Even back then it felt like I was missing something. I love the way the field is evolving. Moving from playing on the floor to coaching during family routines is a learning process, both for providers and families. In case it’s helpful, here’s a link to a poster session our team did at DEC last year. We have lots of info and strategies to help you with this process.

Get Up Off the Floor! Implementing Early Intervention Where Everyday Magic Happens
http://www.eipd.vcu.edu/pdf/itc_dec_poster.pdf

By: Jennifer Sievers, MEd. ECSE

Jennifer Sievers, MEd. ECSE — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 17:56:48 +0000

I think that this has truly been one of the biggest challenges and also changes that I have encountered in EI since I graduated college and started working in the field. When I first graduated “toy bags” were accepted, commonly used, and well – you didn’t really think twice about bringing them. It has been a big change and while I will admit that I still bring toys on visits occasionally, I don’t ever bring toys that I don’t leave at the house (and we have a growing donation room, so often these toys are taken for the family to keep), and this is only occasionally! One of my biggest challenges as an educator, and I think it is for most providers, is to get up off of the floor, playing with toys, and to truly join the family in what they would usually be doing. One piece of advice that I have is that I have found this to be easier to do with new families that I am just starting with – I now see each new family as an opportunity to be a better provider, both in terms of truly making interventions fit into their routines (not just playing on the floor) and truly making it an interactive session where I sit back and guide the family more than being hands on. It’s easier to establish this from the beginning, when families don’t already have any preconceived notions of what an “EI visit” looks like. Again – it is always a process but that’s my advice!

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:18:46 +0000

In reply to Marie.

Thanks for pointing us to a great resource, Marie. I completely agree that playfulness is an “attitude” and I’d love to see the Test of Playfulness you mention. Does Anita Bundy talk about how to teach playfulness to families too?

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 20:25:09 +0000

Anita Bundy, an OT, has done extensive work on playfulness over the last 20 years. She talks about playfulness as ‘attitude’ rather than specific behaviors and actually has a Test of Playfulness. This construct is one of the biggest differences I have seen between master clinicians and those that struggle with intervention and progress. As clinicians we are asking children and families to trust us, to take risks and continually progress developmentally — with children that needs to occur throughout their daily lives with a lot of repetition and generalization across contexts. In order for that to happen it must be intrinsically motivated and what makes children intrinsically motivated is the fact that they are having fun — playfulness is the key to that. A good introduction of Anita’s playfulness construct can be found at: http://ajot.aotapress.net/content/54/1/73.short