Play

Play, Problem-Solving, and Communication

Play is not for children only. A playful approach to problem-solving benefits people of all ages. Play is the major way that young children learn emotional and interpersonal problem-solving skills. Play allows the person to imagine different behavioral alternatives. Play allows us to learn about behavioral and emotional cause and effect. Using imagination, play takes us away from the immediate concrete perception. It allows us to envision a different world, a better situation. We can imagine different actions and their consequences, then choose the actions most likely to solve a problem. It can be like running a simulation to find the best solution to a problem.


	Volunteer used for confidentiality

The younger the child, the more important non-verbal play is. Play begins in early childhood as a purely sensory and motor experience, and gradually becomes more complex. Language becomes part of play, and the child learns to combine non-verbal and verbal self-expression with imagination in their lives. After a play therapy session, a child may say, "Oh, we just played." This "just playing" is the same as when an adult says, "Oh, we just talked."

Adolescents and adults continue to use, and to need, imaginative play. For the most part, they give up pretend play with toys and objects that is so typical of younger children. Their play in therapy more and more involves words and concepts, rather than objects. The ability to play in an age-appropriate way is essential for any therapy to succeed. Their play can span great ranges of time and space through memory and imagination.

Children who have developmental weaknesses will show these in their play. For example, those with visual weaknesses will rely greatly on auditory play; they may talk a great deal, but avoid complex arrangements of toys in space. Children with auditory weaknesses will neglect the verbal dimension of play, and may be difficult to engage in conversation during their play. Children who have difficulties with logical reasoning and problem-solving may play in fragments, with unconnected separate scenes or episodes.