When Work Looks Like Play
When Work Looks Like Play
Sometimes when an adult brings a child to speech therapy, they expect that therapy to look a certain way. After all, a speech or language delay isn’t anything a parent wishes for their child. Instead, it’s viewed as something serious to be overcome - which can lead to the expectation that the therapy itself should be serious. But that’s not the case for children!
Play comes naturally to children - it’s how they experience the world around them. Playing allows them to explore, experiment, and learn in a hand’s-on, interactive way. So it just makes sense to tap into this natural behavior in order to provide the most effective and engaging treatment possible.
And that’s exactly what play-based speech therapy does. Using toys, games, and other fun activities, speech pathologists create a natural learning environment that is engaging, motivating, and enjoyable for children. This, in turn, helps children reach their full potential and achieve meaningful outcomes.
So, what can you expect to see in play-based speech therapy?
Multi-sensory experiences: The use of toys, games, art materials, and sensory activities engage multiple senses (such as sight, touch, hearing, and movement) to help children process information, make connections, and retain learning more effectively.
Meaningful context: The practice of speech and language skills that are relevant to a child’s daily life and role-playing the application of these new skills in real-life situations.
Language stimulation: Numerous opportunities for children to naturally use language to communicate, describe, narrate, and negotiate during play activities.
Developmentally-appropriate activities: The use of activities that matches up with the child’s physical, mental, and emotional development.
Social interaction: Opportunities for children to practice social skills, turn-taking, cooperation, and problem-solving in a supportive and interactive setting through play-based interactions.
Individualized instruction: Activities, materials, and strategies adapted to address specific speech and language goals, target areas of weakness, and build on the child's strengths.
Research, and our own experience, has left no doubt on the effectiveness of using play in therapy. It has proven to be successful in promoting speech and language development, social skills, cognitive skills, and emotional regulation in children. And, most of all, it takes the work out of therapy and turns it into an enjoyable experience for the child.
Written by Ashlie Thomas, Contributing Writer