Trauma for children during the pandemic has increased drastically over the past 2 years. Therapist, educators, parents, and community leaders have seen how a child’s mental health has been impacted tremendously emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
However, with the help of a Play Therapist children are now recovering post-covid and opening up about their feelings and emotions through play.
So let’s take a look at trauma toys that can help spark conversations at home to help children cope with the pandemic and moving forward.
Board Games
Board games are a great way to help children with trauma because it focuses on building emotional competency, self-esteem, patience, personal development, and builds a connection amongst others.
Sand or Water Table
Sand and Water tables will never go out of style with years to come because sand and water has always been used as a sense of therapy for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary students with special needs.
Sand and Water helps with building emotional intelligence, self-esteem, and problem solving skills when stuck in a difficult situation.
A Certified Sand Play Therapist would be great for your child with self-regulating their emotions through the trauma.
Dress up Clothes
I remember teaching in the Preschool classroom and everyone knew that the children’s favorite station was blocks or either dramatic play area.
Even though most Kindergarten programs have since then removed if not most but all stations for children, these playful stations still exist inside the child care centers.
Dress up clothes play therapy is a great way to get any child dealing with trauma to open up about their personal experiences when it comes to child abuse of children with and with disabilities.
Dolls for Trauma
Just like the dramatic play area we also have a variety of dolls that represent children from their cultural background, color, gender sexuality, and even if a child with special needs.
Dolls or children dealing with trauma is a great way for children to demonstrate the child abuse and also model and display how they would like to be treated.
Have you ever watch your child play with a doll or action figure at home and was surprised by some of the comments they made when they were playing with the doll?
Hand held Toys
Toys will always be around for years to come and researchers and clinicians have even gotten better with accommodating children with special needs with therapeutic toys.
Toys will forever be a great way for children to communicate their needs and open up about their trauma filled life through play therapy and modeling of situations that happened to them over the course of the years.
Also, toys are a great way for children with trauma to also escape the world and go into their own reality world to express what type of life style they would like to live.
For example, you may have a child who has a dollhouse set and will show you how they picture their family to be which includes two parents, a pet, friends and a community that loves them.
Also, there are toys that can be great for school age children dealing when trauma when having an emotional breakdown as well such as fidgets and squishy toys.
Conclusion
Overall, there are many other interventions, techniques, and strategies when dealing with childhood trauma but I think these strategies and interventions listed above are the most popular.
Childhood trauma is something that will never go away due to social-economic statues, world events such as the pandemic, and other environmental factors.
However, I do believe that with therapy patience, care, supportive people with dedication we can combat the this disorder head on. Please comment down below your favorite strategy or technique.
