Importance of Play and Assessing a Child’s Place in the World Now: How to Meet the Child in that Space

Your child is seven but plays like someone much younger, or keeps coming back to the same game, the same costume, the same pile of sand. It's easy to worry, or to feel you ought to be pushing them on.

Play is how children build their brains and make sense of the world, and it tells you a lot. Once you know the stages of play, from playing alone to playing alongside others and then together, you can see where your child really is, whatever their age. You'll find out what themes in pretend play can mean, and why clay, sand and water help children express feelings they can't yet put into words. And you'll see why being valued by the people around them matters so much.

An occupational therapist who runs a children's therapy service shares ideas you can try, such as building a den outdoors.