The Power of Play – Why It’s More Than Just Fun

Because play is the work of childhood

For children, play isn’t just something they do, it’s how they learn, connect, and grow. In the early years, play is one of the most powerful tools for building skills that last a lifetime. When a child is stacking blocks, pretending to feed a toy, or rolling a ball across the floor, they’re not “just playing”, they’re laying down the foundations for thinking, moving, communicating, and regulating their emotions.

How Play Builds Essential Skills

Motor skills: Play supports both fine and gross motor development. Activities like climbing, crawling, threading beads, drawing, or building towers strengthen muscles, improve coordination, and prepare children for school readiness tasks such as handwriting, dressing, and self care.

Communication: During play, children learn to share ideas, express needs, listen, and understand others. Pretend play and turn taking games naturally encourage language development, helping children communicate confidently with peers and adults.

Thinking and problem-solving: Play fuels curiosity. When children experiment, such as building a tower that topples over, fitting shapes into holes, or pretending to be a shopkeeper, they’re learning cause and effect, flexible thinking, and persistence.

Emotional regulation: Through play, children practice managing big feelings. They learn to tolerate frustration, cope with disappointment, and celebrate success. This helps build resilience and self-regulation — key skills for learning and relationships.

Social connection: Play creates opportunities for cooperation, empathy, and teamwork. When children take turns, share toys, or join in group games, they learn about boundaries, fairness, and how to build friendships.

Why Play Matters More Than Ever

In a world filled with screens and structured activities, children often have fewer chances to engage in open-ended, imaginative play. Yet this type of unstructured play is where so much of the learning magic happens. It helps children make sense of their world, explore new ideas, and gain confidence through success and safe failure alike.

But what if your child doesn’t seem to play? Maybe they wander around the room without joining in, line up toys without imaginative use, or repeat the same action again and again. These can be signs that play, and therefore development, is feeling hard for them.

OT Insight: How Occupational Therapy Can Help

When a child finds play difficult, they may also be struggling with underlying skills such as sensory processing, motor planning, attention, or social understanding. Paediatric occupational therapists use play as both the means and the goal of therapy. We meet children where they are, following their interests and gradually building the skills that make play, and learning, enjoyable and successful.

In therapy sessions, play might look like obstacle courses to build coordination, pretend play to develop social imagination, or sensory play to help with regulation. Every activity is carefully tailored to your child’s developmental stage and individual strengths.

Try This Today

Create a “low-demand” play moment at home. Sit beside your child with two or three simple toys — a car, a doll, or some blocks. Rather than instructing, model one short action like rolling the car or feeding the teddy. Pause. Let your child watch, copy, or simply share the moment with you. Even small bursts of shared play build communication, connection, and confidence.

When to Seek Support

If your child avoids play, struggles to join others, or finds everyday activities like dressing, drawing, or using utensils tricky, it may be helpful to speak with a paediatric occupational therapist. Early, play-based support can make a big difference, helping your child feel capable, connected, and ready for the next stage of their development.

Why Early Intervention Matters: Building Strong Foundations

Because every child deserves the best start possible

As parents, it’s natural to wonder whether your child’s pace of development is just a phase or something more. You might notice they’re struggling to keep up with peers, finding everyday tasks tricky, or becoming easily overwhelmed by sounds, textures, or transitions. These little red flags are not something to fear, they’re an opportunity.

When it comes to your child’s development, earlier is often better. In the first five years, your child’s brain is growing at a remarkable pace, over a million neural connections every second! This period of neuroplasticity means young children are especially ready to learn, adapt, and grow. That’s why early intervention is so powerful.

Early support doesn’t just address challenges—it builds confidence, independence, and joy in learning. It helps children reach their potential by strengthening the foundations for movement, emotional regulation, play, and social interaction.

What Does Early OT Support Look Like?

Early occupational therapy helps toddlers and preschoolers develop foundational skills through play-based, everyday activities. Therapy is fun, engaging, and always tailored to your child’s unique strengths and interests.

An occupational therapist may support your child to:

• Develop motor skills: building coordination, balance, and strength through play (think climbing, drawing, or using cutlery).

• Regulate their sensory system: helping them respond calmly to sights, sounds, touch, and movement.

• Strengthen emotional regulation: learning to manage transitions, big feelings, and social challenges.

• Build play and social skills: encouraging imagination, sharing, turn-taking, and communication.

• Foster independence in daily routines: supporting dressing, feeding, and toileting with confidence and success.

Each of these areas forms part of the bigger picture, helping your child feel capable, calm, and connected as they grow.

Why Early Intervention Works

Children who receive early support often gain confidence, develop skills more easily, and adjust better to school and social settings. When we support a child early, we’re not just teaching a single skill—we’re wiring their brain for lifelong learning.

Research consistently shows that children who access early intervention services demonstrate improved outcomes in areas such as motor coordination, emotional regulation, language, and academic readiness. By working with the brain’s natural readiness to learn, early occupational therapy builds strong foundations for future success, at school, at home, and in relationships.

Quick Strategies You Can Use Today

You don’t need a therapy room to start supporting your child’s development. Here are two simple, powerful ways to help right now:

1. Start a “Helper Moment” routine.
Each day, invite your child to help with one simple task—packing a snack, choosing a shirt, or putting away toys. These moments build fine motor skills, problem-solving, independence, and emotional connection.

2. Give five minutes of “follow their lead” play.
Set a timer and join your child in five uninterrupted minutes of play, no distractions, no directions, just connection. This strengthens attachment, emotional regulation, and social communication, while giving your child the confidence to explore and learn.

Early intervention is not about labels, it’s about opportunity. It’s about giving your child the right support at the right time to thrive in their own unique way.

If you’ve noticed challenges with your child’s motor skills, emotional regulation, play, or sensory responses, it’s always worth reaching out. A paediatric occupational therapist can guide you with practical strategies and reassurance, helping your child feel capable and confident as they grow.