Play Therapy Tools for Children

Play therapy uses play, a natural activity for children, to help them express and process their emotions. This approach is often used with children who are not yet able to communicate their feelings in words. Therapists use specific toys and creative activities as tools to support this expression in a therapeutic setting, chosen to help children show what they are feeling in ways that make sense to them.

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Understanding Play Therapy

What is Play Therapy?

Play therapy is a method used to help children express their feelings, cope with stressful situations, work on problems, and build confidence through play. It is often used with children who find it hard to put their experience into words. Through play, therapists observe and interpret a child's behaviour and their use of toys to understand what the child may be struggling with.

Role of Tools in Play Therapy

In play therapy, tools such as dolls, art supplies, and games are more than playthings. They give the child a way to show what they are feeling and thinking. A child might use dolls to stand for family members and act out what happens at home. This can give the therapist a view of feelings and relationships the child cannot describe directly.

Clinicians have also developed formal ways of describing a child's play in therapy. The Children's Play Therapy Instrument is one such rating method, and the study reporting its development found generally good to excellent agreement between trained raters assessing the same play [1].

What Play Therapy Aims to Support

• Emotional expression: Play gives children a way to show complex feelings, and a setting in which to practise managing them.
• Social skills: Interactive play offers practice at taking turns, reading others, and communicating.
• Problem-solving and creative thinking: Play is a setting in which children can try things out without real-life consequences, and it is one of the ways they practise working a problem out and thinking up alternatives. The American Academy of Pediatrics describes play as fundamentally important for learning skills such as problem-solving and creativity, which rest on the executive function that play helps build [2].

Play therapy is commonly used with younger children because it does not depend on being able to explain oneself in words. How much any individual child gains from it varies, and that is something to discuss with the therapist.

Categories of Play Therapy Tools

Therapists select tools according to what a particular child needs. The tools give the child ways to express and explore feelings, practise social skills, and work on problems.

Expressive Arts Tools

Expressive arts tools include paints, crayons, and clay. Therapists use them to invite children to show feelings they may not yet have words for. A child may use particular colours and shapes to depict feeling happy or frustrated. What the child makes is something the therapist can look at and ask about, which gives the work a shared starting point.

Sensory and Sandplay Tools

Sensory tools engage a child's sense of touch, which matters for children who find it hard to express themselves verbally. A sand tray lets a child build and rearrange scenes that can stand for parts of their experience. Sandplay gives the child room to set out difficulties in their own way, with the therapist alongside them.

Dramatic and Role Play Tools

Dramatic play tools such as puppets, costumes, and miniature play sets let a child take on roles and act out situations. This gives them a way to approach real-life difficulties in a contained setting. Role play can be useful for working on social situations, on how other people feel, and on ways of coping when something is stressful. Therapists watch these sessions to understand how the child sees their relationships and surroundings.

Specific Tools and Their Uses

Classic Play Therapy Toys

Classic toys such as dollhouses, toy cars, and animal figures are widely used in play therapy. A child can use them to set out and replay situations from their own life. In doing so, children often show more of what they think and feel than they would say directly, which gives the therapist something to work with.

• Supporting at home: Therapists choose particular toys for particular therapeutic reasons. At home, you can support your child by keeping an accepting, unhurried atmosphere in which play is welcome.

Creative Expression Tools

Building blocks, crafts, and art supplies give a child a way to put across feelings and stories they may not be able to say out loud. Making something gives them a way to work on a difficulty without having to explain it directly.

• Setting up a creative space at home: If it suits your household, a comfortable corner with a few art and craft materials gives your child somewhere to draw and build in their own time. Ask your child's therapist whether this would fit the work they are doing together.

Technological and Adaptive Tools

Some therapists also use digital tools such as tablets, with applications chosen for a therapeutic purpose. These may be used for storytelling work or for practising ways of settling strong feelings.

• Adapting for particular needs: For children with physical or cognitive disabilities, therapists use adapted play materials so that the child can take part fully in the session.

Choosing the Right Tools

Selecting and using play therapy tools is the therapist's responsibility, based on their clinical assessment of your child.

Assessment of a Child's Needs

Mental health professionals, such as child psychologists, assess a child's emotional, social, and cognitive needs and choose tools accordingly. They take account of the child's age, their developmental stage, the particular difficulties they are facing, and the goals set for the therapy. The aim is a set of materials suited to that child rather than a standard kit.

• Role of parents: You can help by telling the therapist what you see of your child's behaviour at home and in other settings. That picture is often difficult to get from sessions alone, and it helps the therapist adjust as things change.

Play at Home Alongside Therapy

Ordinary play at home can sit alongside what happens in sessions, giving a child more chances to use what they are working on. The reason repetition matters is that play at home is low-stakes and familiar, so a child can come back to the same game or the same theme as often as they want, and practise things like waiting, taking turns and settling strong feelings. Familiar rule-based games of that kind have been shown to support executive function [2]. Whether a particular child carries anything from a session into play at home is not something a parent can arrange, and it is worth asking the therapist what they are seeing.

• Suggestions for parents: Unhurried play at home, with materials similar to those used in sessions, gives your child room to return to the same themes in their own way. Keep it relaxed rather than clinical, and follow the therapist's guidance on what is helpful for your child.

If play therapy does not seem to be the right fit, you can look at the different therapy techniques and tools available to find an approach that suits your child.

Key Takeaways

• Each tool has a purpose: Play therapy materials are chosen for particular therapeutic reasons, not at random.
• Stay in the picture: Knowing what the tools are for makes it easier to follow the work and ask useful questions about it.
• Play at home has its own value: An accepting, unhurried atmosphere for play at home is worth having in its own right, and can sit alongside the therapy.
• Talk to the therapist: Ask what would be useful at home, and say what you are seeing. The clinical direction of the work stays with the therapist.

FAQ

What age is play therapy usually for?

Play therapy is most often used with children of roughly 3 to 12 years, and it can be adapted for younger or older children depending on their developmental needs.

How do I know if play therapy is helping my child?

Signs of progress may include clearer expression of emotions, easier social contact, and a reduction in difficult behaviour. Progress is often uneven, and your child's therapist can tell you what they are seeing in sessions.

Can play therapy tools be used at home?

Many of the materials are ordinary toys and art supplies that are fine to have at home. Using them at home is play, not therapy, so ask your child's therapist what they suggest.

How often should my child attend play therapy sessions?

This varies with the child's needs and generally ranges from once a week to more than once a week. The therapist will propose a frequency and review it.

What are the signs that my child might need play therapy?

Possible indicators include difficulty expressing emotions, a change in behaviour, or ongoing struggles with other children. A consultation with a mental health professional is the way to establish whether therapy is indicated.

How does the work change as a child gets older?

As children mature, therapy usually relies less on play materials and more on talking and reflection. The therapist adjusts this in step with the child.

Are there any risks associated with play therapy?

Play therapy is generally safe; however, emotional discomfort can sometimes arise as part of processing difficult experiences.

References

1. Kernberg PF, Chazan SE, Normandin L. The Children's Play Therapy Instrument (CPTI): Description, Development, and Reliability Studies. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research. 1998;7(3):196-207. PMID: 9631341. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3330503/
2. Yogman M, Garner A, Hutchinson J, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff RM; American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health and Council on Communications and Media. The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. Pediatrics. 2018;142(3):e20182058. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058