Setting up your home for play will set your child up for success by increasing learning opportunities during object play with a play partner as well as independent play time. Strategically arranging their toys will increase skills in social communication, cognition and joint attention.
Play is a great way to:
- Build new skills through repetition (i.e., by trying again and again to complete a puzzle, putting things in and take them out of containers, drawing a circle, etc.)
- Practice skills that have already been mastered and find pleasure in “showing their skills.”
- Find creative new ways to play with toys and other objects.
Set Up the Need to Communicate:
- Using items your child cannot activate/open without you (i.e. spin tops, musical instruments, closed containers or balloons, etc.)
- Providing small amounts of food or drinks during snack or meal time to teach your child to request more by handing you their bowl, cup, or the food/drink container and verbally requesting the food or drink by labeling it.
- Placing favorite toys or objects into containers and bags to teach your child to request a play item by handing you the bag, pointing to the item or verbally requesting the item.
Set up a Defined Play Space
- This space should have physical boundaries to keep your child close to you. If you only have an open space, try rearranging furniture to make a smaller, more intimate space.
- Organize toys on a low shelf so your child can independently chose a toy and put it away when they are finished.
- Place pieces to toys in containers, bins, or baskets and multiple pieces in baggies to access all of the items to a play activity in one trip.
Limit Distractions
- Increase your child’s attention to you by limiting sounds, smells, sights, and other distracting sensations in the space.
- Do not have the TV on or food available (if it’s not the play theme) and separate the play area from a space people need to walk through.
- Make sure to have only a few toys available at a time. The more things there are in the space, the more distractions there are for your child.
Rotate Toys
- Separate your child’s toys into several groups. Have only one group of toys available at a time.
- When your child becomes uninterested in the group of toys, it is time to rotate to the next group.
View or download this worksheet in PDF format.