Play Date Tips!

Tips from SMILE SLP Galit Raviv, MA, CCC-SLP

As we near spring and warmer weather is upon us, this means more time to socialize and be with friends. Here are some tips and ideas to keep in mind to help support and facilitate positive social interactions with kiddos who may have speech, language, sensory, and motor challenges.

-If this is one of your child's first play dates, keep it small. It is best to give them time build trust and feel successful around peers.

-Think about social interactions from the bottom up. This means, we don't want to push a child to achieve a higher level language skill (such as answering/asking a question) if they are unable to first participate in back and fourth interactions (handing a peer a toy, looking at them, smiling)

-Try to see all the positives in an interaction! Is my child regulated? Is my child comfortable in the environment? Did my child show awareness of peer? Did my child make one small gain from this interaction?

-Add comments rather then questions to help facilitate and expand play ideas. "wow, look at the Dinosaur jumping in the water, SPLASH" rather than "Where should the Dinosaur go?" asking too many questions can hinder language (by limiting the idea), while comments offer decreased language demands and allow for opportunities to help add ideas.

-Set up the environment and play opportunities as successfully as possible, think about the children's sensory, language and where they are at their functional emotional levels to develop activities. For example, is a sensory bin appropriate? Doll house? Board game? What activity will allow the child to be most successful and most importantly ENJOY! :)

-Have multiple activities set up in the event that one is not of interest to a child to help support and expand on the interaction.

We hope these tips help you and your child to enjoy a successful playdate with peers. Have specific questions? Please feel free to leave a comment or reach out to your child’s therapist.