-Spending quality time with your kids is becoming increasingly difficult in this age of distraction. This helpful article suggests many different ways to emotionally engage your children, including filial play therapy.

-What can you do when a child with behavioral problems is too old for play therapy? Here’s an idea: A juvenile detention center in Virginia has instituted a program that gives youths a therapeutic outlet through gardening, allowing their true potential to bloom!

-This is a very thought-provoking and topical editorial on the possibility of using play therapy to curb criminal activity in inner cities.

-Have you ever pondered with concern what happens to race horses after their careers are over? An organization in Saratoga Springs, NY is building a center where they can be adopted and used in animal-assisted therapy.

-I love finding new play therapy podcasts. In this episode, autismshow.org interviews Dr. Robert Jason Grant, the creator of AutPlay Therapy, a play-based approach to working with children.

-It’s great to see people coming up with new methods of therapy based on the healing power of play. A professor at the University of Arkansas specializes in adventure-based counseling, which is therapy through outdoor activities such as camping and rope courses.

-Play therapists are in high demand in schools in the uk. Here’s an interesting article from a British teaching magazine that explains why.

-Australia, too, is looking to train more play therapists as the practice grows in popularity.

-Fall is workshop season and there are plenty of great learning opportunities available, including this one at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. Check out more upcoming events in our resources section.

-This is a very interesting story about a young girl in Scotland with selective mutism, an under-discussed childhood anxiety disorder that affects many children.

-This is a great story about how play therapy can help children work through grief, while also fostering creativity. A young boy who lost his mother was inspired to write a book for other children dealing with grief.

-Here’s a great profile and interview with a therapist in Duluth, Minnesota who practices equine-assisted therapy.

-The mother of an autistic child realizes her vision of a safe play-place where children on the autism spectrum can learn socialization through play.

Have an optimistic October!

-The Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute and Learning Center had such success in 2013 and 2014 with their Art Therapy + Happiness Project they’ve decided to bring it back for 2015. This summer’s workshops will include lectures and lessons from Janet McLeod (New Zealand), Emily Johnson Welsh (USA), and Cathy Malchiodi (Guest Host/USA). Registration begins now!

-This is an inspiring story about an 86-year-old man who has become a special advocate for abused and neglected children in his community. In this volunteer role, he also uses play therapy with the children to help them communicate and heal.

-Earlier this month the NSPCC in Ireland and Hasbro Gaming held “The Really Big Board Game Day” to help children suffering from abuse and neglect by giving them the opportunity to participate in play therapy.

-The Pensacola News Journal ran a 4-part series earlier this month on child abuse. It really ventures deep into the prevalence of the issue and what can be done to curb and treat it, including the implementation of creative interventions such as play therapy and sand tray therapy.

-This is the sort of story a child therapist hates to see: Safe From the Start, a 12-year-old, state-funded program dedicated to helping children who are suffering from a wide range of traumas, is in danger of losing its funding.

-In a blog post earlier this month, the Southern Sandtray Institute named Sandtray Therapy: A Practical Manual (2nd Edition) by Linda E. Homeyer and Daniel S. Sweeney the “number one book on sandtray therapy.” I concur! And guess what? You can get this essential resource at ChildTherapyToys.com!

-Speaking of sandtray and ChildTherapyToys.com, here’s a video displaying an impressive collection of sandtray toys and miniatures, including many that were donated by CTT. You can browse all of our miniatures here.

-This was an interesting article written by a woman who has been through divorce and saw the many effects it had on her child. In the article, she highly recommends play therapy as a means of helping children through this difficult time.

-This is a great story about a man in British Columbia who was inspired to found a program to help children in Nepal through play therapy and other interventions.

-It’s very cool to see play therapists using the medium of podcasting to inform and get the message out about play therapy. Here’s one specific to Baltimore.

-The website of clinical counselor Kathy Eugster contains some great articles on a range of topics from sibling rivalry to play time.

-Here’s a great “Day in the life” of a play therapist working with abused children in the UK.

-This news story explains why the testimony’s of children should not be discounted in a court of law, and how play therapy can be used as a reliable tool for children to relate an experience.

Have a joyous June! And don’t forget to check out what’s new at ChildTherapyToys.com, like our great selection of sweat suit dolls and special needs equipment.

-Therapy with puppets allows children to make sense of tough situations in a fun way. This article discusses treating trauma and children with puppetry.

-“The toys become their words”, says a child therapist who works with victims of abuse. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. This seems like a really great organization doing some important work with play therapy.

-And here’s another article about the success of an organization in Canada that provides help for victims of sexual abuse. It’s great to know that there are groups like this out there, and that they are adopting the use of play therapy more and more.

-The true power of books is in their relatability. When you read about a character who has similar experiences and feelings, it can be a great comfort. This is what makes bibliotherapy effective, and it’s nice to see that this power is being harnessed to help children in need.

-Depression is not exclusive to adults, and when a child is exhibiting signs of depression he or she is not always simply “going through a stage.” This article on childhood depression stresses the importance of recognizing its prevalence in children of all ages and intervening as early as possible.

-This is a great profile of a therapist who’s own journey and struggle led her to sand tray therapy. Now she is helping others with their troubles the same way she helped herself.

-Talking to children in grief is a very difficult, and the approaches to take depend on the situation, age of the child, and many other important factors. This article provides some guidelines for helping children manage their grief.

-A decade ago, Margo Ward launched a play therapy program called KidsXpress, which created a space for children dealing with traumas express themselves and heal through play. Now the program is extending its services to corporate teams hoping to utilize the intervention to improve their communication and teamwork.

-This news piece looks at an organization using sand tray therapy to help victims of sexual abuse.

-This is a thought-provoking interview about child abuse and the ineffectiveness of spanking.

-This video serves as a nice introduction to using sand tray therapy as bereavement intervention:

And here’s another in which a trained therapist explains how sand tray therapy works:

-Here’s an interesting article on using the DIR model of play therapy with children who have autism spectrum disorders.

-Lastly, we have another article on how sand tray therapy is helping children who have been victims of abuse.

Have a marvelous May!

-As you probably know, February kicked off with National Play Therapy Week from the 1st through the 8th of the month. The web was aflutter with blog posts, articles, news reports, and videos raising play therapy awareness . And don’t forget that every week is a good week to promote the powers of play therapy!

-A program in Ohio uses puppets to empower elementary students with disabilities. The program has been around since 1977 and teaches the concept that we are all unique and special in our own way.

–An Irish newspaper reports that children’s social and language skills are being negatively impacted by the use of iPads and other gadgets, so much so that one school has brought in a speech therapist to assess the situation. According to one expert, the first question he asks the parent of a child experiencing language difficulties is how much time they spend interacting with a screen.

-Attention Canadian play therapists! There will be a conference presented by the always-informative Paris Goodyear-Brown on April 17-18. It’s called ‘Putting the Pieces Together Through Play: Healing Trauma and Attachment Wounds’ and I have a feeling it’s going to be one you don’t want to miss! Check out more upcoming events at in our Resources section.

-Here’s a nice short video in which a practitioner explains the healing power of imaginative play.

-Autism is often accompanied by a Sensory Processing Disorder. In this article, a therapist explains how play therapy and “people games” can be used to treat both under-sensitivity and hyper-sensitivity.

-This is a very informative podcast in which a therapist discusses bullying and play therapy. Definitely worth a listen!

-Judy Rubin, also known as the “Art Lady” on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood for three seasons, recently wrote and directed a documentary about what she learned from working with the man. In this article, she shares the history and experiences that led to her making the film.

-In this article an Arts Psychotherapists tells the story of how she came to embrace the profession, and the tools she uses–including sand tray therapy–to help youths affected by familial drug and alcohol abuse.

-Here’s a great article on how to bring an end to sibling rivalry in your home.

-Studies on using parental play therapy in homeless shelters have yielded some encouraging results.

-In this three-part video series, a therapist from the Southern Sandtray Institute explains the why, what, and how of Sandtray Therapy.

-A hospital in India has come up with a great way to help children relax before and during the process of a CT Scan. The children are told to make-believe the machine is a spaceship and they are astronauts going on a voyage. It seems like a much better option than sedation, and it’s a great example of how to use play therapy with children with medical conditions.

Have a magnificent March!