My son (6) wanted to listen to music. He loved the music, the way it felt in his body, so he danced. He loved the music, the way it sang in his mind, so he sang. He loved the music, the way it touched his emotions. So he found some paper and he wrote down … Read more
I have “old paper” in my OT room (white paper stained brown with tea or coffee, crumpled up, etc) and sometimes the kids will get interested in making wizard scrolls or pirate maps or whatever. I had a kid who told me very very VERY seriously that he was going to write the worst spell … Read more
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 for play. That’s what academic writing is for. Notes jotted down in one’s own notebook, words scribbled out as part … Read more
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, leap off the trampoline, and land on the key on the mat for the letter you have picked up! This … Read more
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 figure out how to offer it for young kids, and it’s harder with the big kids, but it’s what I’m … Read more
We went to a new playground recently. Monkey bars are rarer here in the UK (at least in my rural area) than they were at playgrounds in the states. As far as I can tell, this might’ve been the first time in awhile that my son has encountered them, maybe the very first time he’s … Read more
Some adults get alarmed when they hear children using language that sounds “violent” or involves themes of morality, such as “good guys” and “bad guys”. They may want to explain to the child that morality is more complicated than that — that people aren’t inherently “good” or “bad”, but that people make choices. Or they … Read more
I recently appeared on the podcast Dauntless Grace to talk about trauma, play, reparenting ourselves, and that infamous consequences post. You can listen to the interview on their website, Dauntless Grace. It’s also available on iTunes here, and on Spotify here. If you’d rather read rather than listen, the transcript is available here.
I shared this image, with the following caption, for the first time two years ago: Getting my therapy gym room ready for the new school year! I put up this sign this year… “In Action Room, we ALL respect ‘No’.” Grown-ups and kids. If a grown-up tells a child “No, we can’t do that,” then … Read more
Yesterday, my kids (age 5 and 4) found a stack of papers that my son had brought home from school. The speech therapist sent home a bunch of picture cards that he could use at home if he wanted to, on full sheets of multiple pictures per sheet. At home, my son feels comfortable speaking … Read more