My Favorite Play Therapy Activities, Part 1

Working with children is one of my passions, mostly because I love kids so much but also because it gives me chance to be playful and creative.  I have worked with kids in many different capacities-- from babysitting, working at a day care or camp, doing behavioral therapy at kids' homes, and while it could be challenging, I love seeing kids learn and grow and develop into amazing people,  I was fortunate to be able to work as a school counselor as a trainee and intern to get my hours, and it was such a rewarding, fun experience.  Being in a school setting was nice because I got to work with a student's IEP team and discuss how the kiddo was progressing.  I had 30-50 minute sessions with each student to address their IEP goals in a way that was fun but also building skills.  I loved finding new ways to meet this challenge.  I'm not going to lie-- a lot of my ideas fell flat and kids looked at me like I was crazy, but I have built a repertoire of play therapy activities that kids would often request to play again.

Here are some things I've found to be very helpful and engaging with kids in play therapy in both school counseling and private practice settings:

"How Full is Your Bucket" books and visuals

I like to read the book by "How Full is Your Bucket" by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer.  It's a cute book that illustrates what it feels like to have an "empty bucket" (sad, lonely, angry, etc.) vs. a "full bucket" (happy, proud, loved, etc.).  I bought these little buckets for $1 each at Michael's and got these blue and white decorative vase gems (they're like flat marbles) to look like drops of water.  After reading the book, I reference it at each session by asking a kid how full their bucket is.  After they demonstrate with the gems how full or empty their bucket is, we talk about what things happened that day that either filled or dipped into their bucket.  I might also use a second bucket to show how they may have filled or dipped into someone else's bucket.

Feelings Hide-and Seek with Kimochis

I found these adorable little feelings characters called Kimochis and came up with a game where you take turns hiding them around the therapy room.  I explain to kids that a lot of us may hide our feelings from people, but counseling could be a place where it's safe to share feelings.  This was by far my most requested activity.  Not only are these little characters adorable, but Hide-and-Seek involves a kid being able to get up, move around, interact with me to see if I give away hiding places, or being creative with their own hiding places.

Each time a kid finds a feeling, they have to say something about it.  I try to keep it broad and unthreatening, but if they're comfortable, I might have them say a time they experienced that feeling.  The kids also love to be the "hider," and so I close my eyes and make a fool of myself while trying to find the feelings around the room, which is delightful and funny for them to watch.  It also gives me a chance to model for them how to talk honestly about my feelings, and I'll often say something I think they can relate to, like "I used to feel jealous of how much attention my little sister used to get..." and I'll see a kid's eyes get wide and nod.  We only do about 5-6 at a time because kids often forget where they hid at least one!

I got these Kimochis at Amazon, but I think a better place to get a set would be at kimochis.com.

A lot of kids I work with have trouble with their executive functioning skills, and one of their deficits is in planning ahead and problem-solving.  There are so many great activities and games to help develop these skills.  I saw this deficit mostly in kids with a learning disability and/or ADHD/ADD,

Puzzles

First off, I love using 100-piece puzzles, which you can get online, or at Target, Big Lots, Walmart, and even the dollar store.  I really like the Ravensburger brand, or anything sturdier and well-cut.  The puzzles at the dollar store tend to be a bit flimsy.  I've noticed that with many kids, sitting and doing a puzzle together face-to-face can be a collaborative, bonding experience.  Many kids start off feeling overwhelmed by all the pieces, so I try to help them break it down into small, doable tasks, like finding all the edges, working on a certain color or area, etc.  I also try to do the more challenging parts to help set them up for success and get it done in time.  Once the puzzle starts coming together, I say things like, "Wow, you're really getting the hang of it!" or "Did you know how good you are at puzzles?" And when we finish it (usually a 100-piece is perfect for a 30-minute session), the kid feels so proud of himself/herself, and I remind them how they were overwhelmed and didn't think they could do it, but after breaking it down into steps, they were able to do it.  I always like to let them get the final piece into the puzzle, because it's such a satisfying feeling.

Games

There are many awesome games you can use to practice problem-solving with kids.  One I like in particular is the game Labyrinth by Ravensburger (pictured above).  The basic premise of this game is you have to obtain objects throughout the maze, which you do so by strategically rearranging the maze on each turn.  Checkers is also a great way for kids to practice thinking ahead about consequences of certain moves.  If the kid is younger or has cognitive deficits, Connect 4 is another, simpler game to practice problem-solving and coming up with strategies. 

Sand tray activities

I can't emphasize how much I love using the sand tray.  I am not officially trained in this area  yet, but I'd really like to be eventually.  

 There are regulation-sized sand trays, which you can get on play therapy sites but they are usually expensive.  Since I traveled around between school counseling sites and my private practice, I bought some kinetic sand on Amazon and a blue container from Staples with a clear top to store it in.  I like the container with the blue bottom because you can make it look like water.  I prefer to use the kinetic sand because it sticks to itself and you can sculpt it, but dry sand is soothing and has a whole different effect.  You can get it in many different colors, but I stick with the brown one because it's neutral.

Here's a picture of a regulation-sized sandtray:

In terms of what to use, I use miniatures.  At my private practice site, we're fortunate to have shelves of toys that my colleagues and I have been collecting for years.  Going to the schools for counseling, I have different collections of miniatures I use, depending on the kid and what I want to work on with them.  I like to use superheroes, Disney characters, animals, trees, food, etc.  I also like to use the characters from "Inside Out" to help the kids express their different feelings in a scene with the sand tray.  You can get a lot of cheap miniatures at Party City, the dollar store, and on Amazon.  Sometimes I'll run into a toy store and see a toy that would be perfect to add to my collection.  I got my Wonder Woman figure from Home Goods!  Michael's has really nice quality miniatures, but they can be expensive.

Stay tuned for Part 2!