The Child Who Spoke Through Play

 

The first time he came in, he didn't say a word. He wandered the room, eyes scanning the shelves, small hands hovering over the toys like he was waiting for permission.

He finally chose a family of animal figurines - a tiger, a cub, and a smaller one that looked lost. He lined them up carefully, then knocked them over one by one. No words. Just quiet, deliberate motion.

Week after week, the stories unfolded in scenes like that. The animals fought, hid, got rescued, started again. Sometimes there were storms. Sometimes there was peace.

And slowly, his play began to change. The tiger stopped attacking. The cub started standing taller. One day, he built a fence - not to keep anyone out, but to keep the cub safe inside.

He looked up at me, and said, almost to himself,

"The baby's okay now."

What Children Say Without Words

In play therapy, toys are words and play is language. Children speak through action, movement, and imagination - long before they have the vocabulary for fear, anger, or loss.

They show us what's hard to say: who feels safe, who feels scary, and what they need to feel okay again.

And when someone is there to witness that play - without judgement, without rushing - healing begins to unfold in ways even adults can't always explain.

The Magin in the Small Moments

Sometimes, healing sounds like laughter.

Sometimes, it's a quiet sigh.

Sometimes, it's a tiger who finally lays down to rest.

Therapy for children isn't about telling them what's wrong. It's about creating a space where they can tell their story in the only way they know how - until they're ready to use words.

Next up in this series: The Parent Who Found Their Calm - how one parent's healing helped their child began to heal too.