Karen has been interested in play for a long time – she finds play fascinating and has a career dedicated to teaching, researching and learning about it. She has a PhD in Play and is now a Lecturer at Bath Spa University. We covered so much with Karen including:
- Helping parents understand play and how it can make a real difference to home life and how it connects children and adults.
- The value of following children’s lead in play and the skill of playing alongside them rather than hijacking it.
- Feeling more comfortable with suspending reality and finding our inner child.
- Balancing your day with activities, outings, free play etc – do you need to?
- The importance of understanding your child and their interests.
- Invitations to play – what are they and how much effort do they take?!
- What toys you really need (spoiler alert – sometimes a box of bricks or a cardboard box is all!).
- Managing situations where children aren’t interested in the activities you have set up and whether it matters and what you can do if ‘all they want to do is play with cars’!
- Karen’s 3 main benefits of play.
- And finally, the fact that all the points we discuss are as relevant for neurodivergent children as they are for neurotypical children – play is play!
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