"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." Plato
We help children who can't talk about their feelings. We help using their very first language- play. If you know a child who needs developmentally appropriate support please contact us to find out how we can help you.
Information and tips about play therapy and child mental health to help the children in your life. Learn about how to support a child in the classroom and at home. Find out about the latest research findings on child mental health. From time to time I will invite you to reflect on your inner child too as it's all related!
Parenting, child therapy, families, classroom support, play therapy
Free Play! A list of its profound benefits!
This month we are delighted to feature a guest post from Neve Spicer (of wetheparents.org). This is a great article to share with those who need reminding that play should be a priority along with an evidence based infographic! Enjoy and share with your friends for Play Therapy Week! ( 3rd Feb- 10th Feb 2019)
Modern science is now backing up what parents, educators and play therapists have known for eons. Children need to play.
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Why You should really be writing to Santa too.
Yes you!
You’re not too old besides your inner child is more powerful than you think. If you choose not to listen to him/her (just like a outer world child) they will shout louder to get your attention (sometimes in unexpected ways e.g. sabotaging behaviour, relationship struggles, impulsive action, escapism or even physical health issues).
So this festive season I encourage you to join me in doing a quick easy fun task to tap into your inner child, connect to your self and your outer world (real life) child by following my easy peasy santa letter template.
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Following last month's article on cultivating your inner calm, this month we are focussing on when things have escalated and you haven't got any more calm to share (it happens to us all!). So this time we are focussing more specifically about not joining the chaos! Because let's face it, we can't always keep up with our calm cultivating practices (that we touched on in the last article). Sometimes it seems there's just a perfect storm of things going wrong and you get wound up. You are human after all.
First be sure to download your free printable refrigerator sheet that accompanies this article so you can easily put this into action!
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In the face of a little one struggling, it's our job to share our calm not join their chaos. As the saying by L.R. Knost goes.
But how can we muster or keep enough calm to share it?
Whether you're a parent, child therapist or teacher your patience is constantly being tested! Here are some tips I've found along the way of trying to share my inner calm!
This month's post is featuring some general maintenance/preventative measures for keeping your calm. Be sure to catch part 2 next month when I will be sharing strategies of keeping calm in those extra heated moments!
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The lovely Noreen Mir from RTHK Radio 3 & I!
It was my pleasure to talk about Play Therapy and raise awareness on child mental health today on RTHK radio 3 with the lovely Noreen Mir! Take a listen/watch to find out....
* The endangered type of play that you should be prioritising!
* What is typically in my playroom
* Why Play Therapy is so effective
* Why Play Therapy can be used across the lifespan (yes really!)
* Things to look out for in your child's behaviour
* Tips on how to get your anxious child on the school bus!
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Three simple ways to help your anxious child at home and in the moment. These little tips are wonderful for working alongside a child who is undergoing play therapy or a child who is going through a very stressful time right now and who needs some support handling their feelings of anxiety. Seeing anxiety in our children is very anxiety provoking in itself! These tricks can help us caretakers cope too. Be sure to practice good self care!
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Being a kid can be frustrating! A lot of the time they are being told what to do by grown ups, they are learning all the time and they are often facing tricky challenges slightly beyond their cognitive or physical capabilities! It’s no wonder that tempers can flare up!
Being a parent or teacher also requires a lot of patience and it’s easy for us to get frustrated to. In this video I show you a simple playful breathing technique called woodchopper breath that is great for stress relief and can calm and settle the body and mind before the blood reaches boiling point!
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Around this time of year everyone is setting New Year Resolutions, have you? In my family we tended not to do this. Dad said it seemed to be setting ourselves up for failure so we avoided it altogether!
It seems pops was on to something though because there are a LOT of depressing stats out there about how many of us fail in our resolutions by the end of January…oops!
I think the reason for this is because the format of resolutions is very negative. “I will stop….eating ice cream, yelling at my kids, staying up late (fill in the blank!)
While being mean to ourselves and forcing ourselves to do without may work in the short run, for more long term change we need to feel good about doing it!
So instead of “I will stop yelling at the kids” tweak it to the positive that you want more of. E.g. “ I will speak with more kindness and authority to the children.”
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Last minute gifts that will touch your child's heart. Inexpensive and you most likely won't even need to leave home! WIN WIN! #giftgiving #childtherapist #parenting #giftsfromtheheart #parentchildbond #playtherapy
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TEACHERS! We salute you & we've got your back!
Forget the elves & Christmas fairies, the real heroes of Christmas are the teachers & school staff! They may not be featured heavily in typical Christmas movies but I see you! I acknowledge your daily mounting workload, the extra rehearsals, the overtime spent on elaborate displays, the strain on your voice as you try to contain the building excitement of 30+ buzzing children!
Teachers aren’t told enough how important they are. Most people can make an impact on a group of other people’s lives over their lifetime. For teachers, they impact thousands of lives!
SO… with this in mind, I hope you can add at least one of these tips to boost your self care this holiday season. You’re so close. You’ve got this!
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"Mum! Daddy! Please I really want this! I will play with it all the time. Please, please, please!"
After some consideration you get it. It looks vaguely educational even!
A week later, it’s gathering dust. You search around and find where your child is playing. To your surprise they’re stuck into the stacking cups that you put by the door to donate to charity. They are 9 years old after all! They keep showing an interest in toys that seem far too young for them lately. What is going on? What should I do?
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Play Therapy- Is it magic? ;) Click the image above for video.
Although I have seen lots of wizards, unicorns and dragons (even dressed as them at times) in the play room, play therapy isn’t just “magic”. The experience for children, parents, teachers alike can be magical but there are logical explanations for how play therapy works. Here are just a few!
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When was the last time you played (just for you)? Play is one of our innate drives and number one ways to learn. Research shows that play is good for our physical, emotional and mental health yet it's often put at the bottom of the priorities list. Why is this? In this post I will tell you my theory on it and tell you about my new free offering (time limited). First,
Think of the dance floor at a wedding. We've all been there...
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So who really is Bing Bong? What does he represent? And what really happened to him (sob!)?
The official line is that he's an imaginary friend, but he can most certainly mean different things to different people. Here is a unique fan theory. He didn't die. (Or maybe he did but he was reborn!) He's gone underground working as a play therapist! At the end of this post I'll share something that was left behind from him in my play room. The evidence!
Keep the tissues handy as you revisit the emotional memory of Bing Bong's story. But first, why on Earth does he work as a play therapist?
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Inside Out. The 2 Oscar nominations are certainly justified. There hasn't been such a brave, emotionally intelligent, creative and science based Kid's film before. Let's face it, it is a film just as much for adults. From a play therapist point of view I want to quickly highlight some of the reasons why it is so important to honour this film with the Oscar awards. Here are the top 7 reasons why I love it SO MUCH (from my play therapist geeky mind...)
It's relatable, sincere and it highlights a lot of truth bombs that those in play therapy have known to be true for a long time. Read on to find out the most poignant lessons to share from my play therapy perspective.
N.B. I am not in any way affiliated with Pixar. This comes from my playful heart!
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A compilation of my #PlayfulMay posts, May 2015. Play has side effects and really does matter (at any age!)
I first got hit with a serious play bug at the end of April when my friend, and fellow play therapist, Sophia proposed the #PlayfulMay challenge. Playing at least once each day throughout May. If you've ever wondered what kind of psychological processes can be triggered by play (as a child or an adult), read on.
Read moreWhat is play?
At first glance the question seems straight forward. And then you try to answer it… As a play therapist, I was quite appalled at myself when I struggled to answer this simple question (on a filial play coaching training course I attended recently). I was trying to answer in a way that was inclusive of adult experiences too and I got all stuttery and confused.
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