What is play-based therapy?
Play-based therapy is exactly what it sounds like, therapy that integrates play as the primary way to help children learn new skills. It is grounded in the idea that play is the most natural and effective way young children explore, interact with the world, and develop physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively.
Rather than sitting at a table doing drills or worksheets, play-based therapy happens on the floor with toys, books, movement, songs, pretend play, and everyday routines, which is typically the way children learn best.
While play-based therapy can be used for children of varying ages, it is especially helpful for children under age 3 who qualify for early intervention services due to delays or concerns in areas such as:
Communication (e.g., speech delays)
Fine or gross motor skills
Sensory processing
Social-emotional development
Adaptive skills (e.g., feeding, dressing)
Additionally, this approach can be used by varying therapists including speech-language pathologists, who often work in your home or clinic setting.
During a play-based speech therapy session, a speech pathologist might:
Use stacking blocks to encourage turn-taking, or requesting tasks
Sing a nursery rhyme with motions to promote language and imitation
Roll a ball back and forth to build shared attention
Pretend to cook or cut food items to work on following directions or incorporate pretend play
Use preferred toys to practice asking for help, making choices, or using sounds and words
Overall, while it may just look like fun, every part of the session is thoughtfully guided by therapeutic goals based on your child’s needs.
Author: Nayeli Dominguez M.S., CF-SLP