Activities
Pirate Adventures
The child saw a giant cardboard box and suggested it was a pirate ship. Even if pirate fiction wasn’t one of my own special interests, I would have been on board immediately (ha ha, pun […]
Social/Emotional
At School
We Are All Part of the Team
A friend shared a story with me, and with their permission, I’m sharing it here. Their child was 5 years old and in their class at school, they had a clip behavior chart like many […]
At Home
Processing Scary Things
There’s an episode of Bluey called Space. In it, three little boys are playing together at their kindergarten. They’re playing pretend space explorers. As they navigate who is going to play what role in the […]
Elementary
Trying to Cry
People of all ages sometimes seek out crying when they need it, because crying can be very healing and stress-relieving. Adults might put on a sad movie, listen to music that holds a lot of […]
At Home
When One Sibling is “Right” and One Sibling is “Playing”
I wrote a post about myself, an adult, not freaking out when my children said things that were factually incorrect because I knew they were playing at having that skill. Like pretending to read a […]
Activities
Big Kids Play Too
This is another one of my “big kid” room setups as I lean heavily this year into trying to continue to practice child-led play-based therapy, even with older children (9-15ish). It’s easier for me to […]
At Home
Regulation Mirrors
Have you been trying to offer your child coping strategies when they’re in the middle of a meltdown and not been having a lot of success? If so, I have a couple of questions for […]
Babies
Corrections to Corrections
Sometimes I get stuck in awkward situations with other adults where the other adult feels like they need to correct a child in some way that feels wrong to me. It might be exacerbated by […]
At Home
Case Study: Sensory Mismatch in Play
I’ve written before about “sensory mismatch”. It’s one of the hardest things for people with vastly different sensory profiles to be able to get along with each other in stressful circumstances. Let me tell you […]
At Home
Violent Themes in Play
Some adults get alarmed when they hear children using language that sounds “violent” or involves themes of morality, such as “good guys” and “bad guys”. They may want to explain to the child that morality […]