Activities
Big Pile of Pillows
It was 45 minutes until bedtime and my kids (6 and 4) were super amped up and high energy. Some days I have the energy to start playing goofily with them in a way that […]
Indoor Play
Activities
Finding Buried Treasure
A play invitation from my therapy gym — as part of the child-led exploration of stations in my room during OT time, or for the children who use the therapy gym for other reasons than […]
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 […]
At School
It Only Makes Sense To Us
Modeling writing authentically and meaningfully and delightfully doesn’t always have to be, like, great works of prose or poetry. They don’t even have to make sense or be meaningful to someone who wasn’t using them […]
Activities
Six Ways to Play with Vacuums
At my lecture last Friday, during the Q&A session, somebody asked me if I had any ideas for connecting meaningfully and playfully in therapy with a child whose special interest was vacuums, and who spent […]
Activities
More Giant Keyboarding
A game one of my kids and I made up with my keyboard mat (a gymnastics mat with masking tape on it in the shape of a QWERTY keyboard)… Pick up plastic letters and run, […]
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 […]
Activities
bestdayever
My old typewriter has been an option in the room for a few weeks now, but writing feels like a threat to him. Even typing feels adult-dictated. Even typing on something fun. It always just […]
Activities
Keyboarding Play
I have an old typewriter in my room. I also have a large gym mat with a QWERTY keyboard created on it in tape. Both of these are for the same purpose: to provide play-based, […]
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 […]