Learn to Play Therapy
The purpose of Learn to Play Therapy is to develop spontaneous pretend play ability in children. Some children have pretend play levels that are below where they should be developmentally and this impacts upon many areas of their life including social skills, academic ability, and language proficiency. Pretend play is the most complex form of play and in Learn to Play Therapy the therapist will focus on: the ability of the child to self-initiate play, the logical sequencing of play, the substitution of one object for another, engaging with a character (doll, teddy etc.) as if it were real and role play.
Children may be referred to the Learn to Play Therapy program for a variety of reasons including:
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They may have difficulty playing,
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They may have difficulty socially interacting,
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They may have a language delay,
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They may be rigid or inflexible in their play.
Learn to Play has been shown to be effective in not only improving children’s play skills, but also in improving their narrative language ability, which is the ability to successfully tell a story, and the acquisition of grammar in both mainstream schools and also a specialist school setting. These skills are important for social relationships and academic work.
