This blog post is a bit late this week… Probably because while I understand its value, playlistening, another tool from Hand in Hand parenting, is one that I personally have a hard time doing.

Like the name suggests, playlistening is a way to listen to your child through play. The point of playlistening is to make your child laugh. Laughter is another way for your child to release their pent-up emotions.

Plus, playlistening can work with one child, two children or even more! As long as everyone is in on the game and having fun, playlistening is doing its job.

Let’s say there’s a group of children who are pretending to be shooting guns. When they shoot at you, you can pretend that they’ve hit you with the Love Gun. Now you’ve fallen in love with whoever who has shot at you and you run after them trying to give them hugs and kisses.

If you have an older sibling grabbing the younger one’s toy, you can turn it into a game where you grab a toy and say, “Hey! Try picking on someone your own size! Why don’t you grab a toy from me?” Then start crying in a playful manner when the older child grabs the toy from you.

During playlistening, it’s important to pay attention to see what makes your child laugh. It’s possible that they won’t find everything you do funny.

Playlistening can happen during Special Time but they’re two different things. Special Time is when we pour our love and attention to our children. We follow our child’s lead and this may lead to playlistening.

It can also be used to address behavior or set a limit. Are you running out of time and need to get everyone out the door? Pretend you’re the shoes who want feet to be put on them. Is your child particularly whiny today? Pretend to pick out whiny bugs from their hair.

When in doubt, be the clumsy adult. Children love it when the ‘powerful’ adult is suddenly unable to walk properly!

Eventually, you’ll find your way to playlisten with your child. You know you’re doing it right when your child is laughing and you feel connected to them.

What’s one way you use play to reconnect with your child? Let me know in the comments!