Play is the word always attached to the life of a child. As a child we were fond of playing, where we are engaged, present in that moment and being joyful in the company of toys or people around us. Fun, movement, excitement, interest… and the list will go on as soon as the thought of play flashes in our minds.
Haim G. Ginott (1960, 243) coined the phrase, “toys are the child’s words and play is the child’s language.
Perfectly described, play is really important for a child’s development. It facilitates the child’s social, physical, language, emotional and cognitive developments. During play the child is involved in a sensory motor way with objects that symbolises his/her abstract emotions. That’s why Jean Piaget (1962) proposed that play bridges the gap between concrete experience and abstract thought.
Hence Play therapy is a structured, theoretically based approach that builds on natural communication and learning processes of children.It is an emerging tool to walk into the child’s world.
Play therapy practices are largely based on Virginia Mae Axline’s work. She stated that play therapy is based on the fact “that play is the child’s natural medium of self-expression”. She developed eight principles of play therapy that enlightened the practices of many play therapists today. We at Mirra consider many ways to reach out to our children, thus incorporated Play Therapy sessions to enrich the learning processes.