English is not your child’s first (or second) language

I recently vlogged about using toys to help your children express their feelings to you more accurately. My hope with this tool is to give you an effective means to check in with your child when they are in distress. This works because play is the child’s language.

We don’t fully develop the skills to communicate our feelings verbally until about age 25 (and some adults never do!), so why are we so often asking our children to tell us how they feel with words?

More often than not, I hear from parents that they have no clue what feeling their child is experiencing. You have a hunch it’s not just the turkey sandwich you packed for lunch, but they just won’t stop fussing about that! So, you ask them, is it this? Is it that? By the end you can both end up guessing, and neither of you walk away sure that you understood what the deeper issue was.

How can we support our kids in decreasing their anxiety, meltdowns, or behavior problems if we can’t speak their language?

By offering children the opportunity to perceive the picture of a feeling on a toy’s face, or in the body language of an action figure, we get down on their level to help them communicate. Just like I practiced ‘dove ir al bano’ before I went to Italy, to meet those basic needs we need to recognize that English is not a child’s first language.

To learn more about play therapy, click here. If you’re a science geek, or just want to know more about why play therapy is effective, read more here.

For those of you interested in learning the language, you can apply to participate in my online parent group where you will learn the basics of play therapy, and hold sessions at home with your child. You will gain the same skills a master’s level student in play therapy is taught. These skills will give you the lasting capability to speak your child’s language throughout their childhood.

Apply now, as space is limited!

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