The Power of Play and Creativity for Children and Young People by Kira Montague, Senior Therapeutic Consultant and Art Psychotherapist
I am an art therapist, and one of the things I love about my work is getting to see a child’s playful and creative side. When we play or make art with children, we can enter with them into their inner world and understand and see their unique point of view.
Play and creativity are essential to healthy child development and are important ways children learn. From birth, babies make sense of their world using their senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste, movement and action; and from as early as 3 months begin using their senses to play and explore different objects (including people).
Stories, images and play are children’s natural language for communicating and understanding their feelings and experiences. A child can show you, without words, their whole inner and outer world through their play and art-making. They are ways to share with you, as important adults in their life, their past and present experiences, feelings, thoughts, wishes and desires.
For children who have experienced trauma, opportunities to play and create are important. When children don’t feel safe in their environment and with the adults around them, or don’t have access to an enriching environment, play and exploration are limited or non-existent. You will often see that these children are limited in their playing abilities and skills and have delays across developmental areas such as speech and language, problem solving and cognition, sensory regulation and emotional regulation.
Being active and losing themselves in their imagination and body movements can provide reparative and developmental healing for children. This includes healing from relational trauma, where joint play and art making turn into positive relational experiences, where you can have fun together, build trust, and attune and respond to the child and their world in a playful and non-threatening way.
Some creative play ideas and suggestions are:
- Soothing and calming activities which engage senses can help children feel calm and relaxed in their bodies and minds. Examples include clay and Play-Doh, water play, sand and kinetic sand, finger and hand painting.
- Physically expressive activities can increase body awareness and control, supporting motor skill development and can release energy and intense emotions stored in the body. Examples include chase, tag, hide and seek, tree climbing, fall, rough and tumble, climbing obstacles, lifting and pulling large objects, using clay and Play-Doh, throwing and punching pillows and bean bags.
- Imaginative Play where children can try out, represent and explore different objects, roles, ideas, emotions and experiences. Examples include junk modelling, den building, role play and dress up (e.g playing house, going to the shops, starting school), imaginative play with small world figures, toys and puppets.