By Dave DeFusco

Dr. Amiya Waldman-Levi, an expert on parent-child relationships and an associate professor in the Katz School’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate, has co-authored a professional guide to help pediatric clinicians assess how parents and other caregivers support their children’s playfulness.

Published by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) last June, the Parent/Caregiver Support of Children’s Playfulness (PC-SCP) is designed to help clinicians develop family-centered interventions that promote healthy filial relationships and the skills parents and caregivers need to encourage playfulness. Through play, children develop social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills that contribute to their physical and mental health and success in school.

“This tool will help occupational therapists, psychologists, speech therapists, social workers and other pediatric clinicians make informed assessments of parent and caregiver support of children’s playfulness,” said Dr. Waldman-Levi. “It will also enable them to pinpoint the specific behaviors that either hinder or support the child’s motivation, engagement, social interaction and communication during play with others.”

Dr. Waldman-Levi and co-author, Dr. Anita Bundy, a professor in occupational therapy at Colorado State University and an expert in children’s risky play, will use the PC-SCP guide in two AOTA workshops on “Assessing the Co-Occupation of Joint Play” on Thursday, Feb. 15, and Saturday, March 23. Both will focus on how clinicians can assess the shared involvement and engagement of parents and children in joint play.

Dr. Bundy published the first assessment of children’s playfulness in early 2000, which was the inspiration for their new manual. She has been in the forefront of creating accessible playgrounds in Europe and in Australia through the Sydney Playground Project. 

Dr. Bundy said children’s play is indispensable for teaching the art of negotiation without an adult present, testing boundaries and developing an awareness of one’s own capabilities. She said that restrictions placed by parents on their children’s play, whether out of fear of their child getting hurt or a bias toward academic instruction over physical activity, are depriving American children of invaluable life skills.

“Negotiation between children isn’t always pretty but if you don’t have that opportunity or if an adult always does it for you, when do you learn how to barter for what you want and need?,” she said. “Knowing how to negotiate gives children agency—the sense that they can ask for what they need or want. It doesn’t mean they’re going to get it, but at least they can feel comfortable asking.”

Dr. Bundy said that because young children’s central occupation is play, occupational therapists are obligated to adopt a family perspective to provide up-to-date best practices in relation to co-occupations—a point that will be emphasized during the workshops.

“Therapists who employ such a perspective when conducting interventions with young children should explore the family’s values, goals and aspirations, as well as relevant environments,” she said. “Without fully exploring these avenues, therapists may create an intervention plan in a vacuum.”