Supporting children to develop functional play skills
Toddlers, Preschoolers
Before you read
In this article, we share general information about some areas of development and the differences that might be seen in autistic children.
Every child with autism is unique and different. While they may share some similar traits, it’s important to know that each child will have their own learning styles, interests and preferences.
This information is designed to help you understand and support your autistic child. Always speak to their therapist/s before introducing any new strategies in the home.
Some of the strategies might be helpful for children without autism or without a diagnosis. We recommend speaking with your child’s early learning centre, your GP and/or your family network for more support.
Supporting children to develop functional play skills
Play skills do not always happen naturally for all children. Children can often use materials in ways that may be different to the general expectation of how to use that toy. While it is wonderful they have great ways to use toys on their own, it can limit their play with their siblings and peers. In order to support their ability to play together, we need to build their functional play skills.
For example, some children may line up cars to line up. They are able to group them and order them in different ways, whereas others are using them to drive them along the ground. We can support them to use the car to drive around a car track to build their opportunities to play with their siblings or peers.
At Beranga, educators model how to play, use verbal and visual prompting and hand over hand support to explicitly teach these skills.
Steps you can use at home to support your child.
- Modelling how to use a toy.
- Verbally describe what you are doing
- Hand over hand -Holding their hand gently to show them what to do, then letting them try it themselves.
- Show them pictures of how to play
- Watch videos of children playing with toys or playing games.
Some examples of play you can support:
- Building with blocks
- Playing with playdough
- Role playing with dolls, animals, puppets Pushing cars Drawing and craft Stacking and nesting toys Puzzles Cause and effect toys
You can even set up simple task boxes that help children complete simple steps and complete activities on their own.
