Teach Play Skills

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Play is an important part of learning and social growth for a child. All children learn through play. Children with autism play in their own ways; however, sometimes children with autism need help learning how to play in the ways other children play.

Getting started

To encourage interactive social play with your child, first join your child every day in “floor time” for five to 30 minutes, focusing on preferred activities and interests. Sit in front of your child so your child can look at you and you can communicate with them and see what they are doing. Offer two or three toys that your child enjoys. This gives a choice but does not overwhelm your child with too many choices. Allow your child to lead the play. Watch what your child does and imitate (e.g., if your child rolls the wheels on a toy car, imitate by rolling the wheels on another car or toy). 

The book “Mom’s Busy Days” by Elise Raucy introduces the idea of daily play time. 

Building skills

Once your child is comfortable with playing together during their preferred activities, branch off from those activities, making small changes; adding in new items; encouraging turn-taking, sharing and showing; and modeling pretend play. Expand on activities your child enjoys. For example, if your child is interested in cars, roll a car while making noises (beep beep or vroom). If your child likes to open and close doors, make a small figure walk through the doors. 

The book “Do-Watch-Listen-Say: Social and Communication Intervention for Children with Autism” by Kathleen Ann Quill, Ed.D., can help you teach play skills.

Types of play

There are several types of play that children typically develop in stages, including exploratory, physical play, cause-and-effect, constructive play, representational toy play and narrative pretend play.

• Exploratory play is sensory driven and often appears chaotic. It includes activities such as mouthing toys, feeling textures, peering closely, dumping/swiping/throwing toys and making sounds. Some children with autism do not show much interest in toys. To help your child explore, provide buckets to fill and empty; toys with various textures; sensory bins; toys that move, light up or make sounds; or introduce water play. 
• Physical play helps children develop gross motor skills and involves playing with others. Try various games, like chase or tag, or play with equipment, such as slides and swings. This type of play is often very rewarding and offers many opportunities for social engagement. Start with simple games, such as chase, imitating movements to preschool songs and swinging. Then, add in games with more interaction and basic rules, such as hide and seek, catch with a ball and ring-around-the-rosy. 
• Cause-and-effect play occurs when your child’s action causes a result, such as setting a toy car on a ramp or pressing a button to make music play. This type of play offers opportunities for turn-taking and communicating if they need help. Choose toys that have buttons, switches or those that respond to sounds made by the child.  
• Constructive play occurs when children build or make things. It involves working toward a goal or product. This may be a puzzle, sorting activity, blocks, drawing, Play-Doh or craft activity. This type of play helps children develop fine motor skills, creativity and problem-solving skills. Encourage this type of play by first introducing materials and slowly building toward creating a product. Sometimes, children can focus on repeating the same build or order in this play. Encourage variety by making small changes to favorite play routines. For example, if your child always stacks blocks a certain way, change one piece. If your child always places pieces into a puzzle in the same order, offer a different order. Be sure to allow time for exploration and do not get too focused on the final product being accurate. 
• Representational toy play is the beginning stage of pretending. This is using toy representations of everyday objects to act out routine activities, such as driving a toy car, talking on a toy phone, feeding a doll or stuffed animal or cooking play food. Start by introducing a type of toy and modeling the use of the toy, then hand the toy to your child and give him or her a turn to try. Sometimes, it helps encourage children to mimic by watching short videos of other children playing with these types of toys to give them ideas of what to do. 
• Narrative pretend play moves into more complex storylines and situations. It teaches children social rules and relationships. When children engage in this type of play, they act out a narrative or story, such as being a veterinarian, chef or mommy. They assign people roles and incorporate conversations. Help your child develop this skill by using story cards with pictures to show the parts of the story and scripts of what to say. Add in costumes, voices and silly actions to encourage your child to join in. 

The book “The Social Skills Picture Book Teaching Play, Emotion and Communication to Children with Autism” by Jed Baker, Ph.D., is a great resource for helping teach your child various types of play.