Structured Play Groups

Each of us has unique interests and our emotions and sensory systems influence how we interact with our world. So, play can look and be very different for different people. Play itself however is an intrinsic part of childhood for all children. Play is offers pleasure and choice to young children from a unique point of view. It can not be forced and stems from the interests of the child.

Play brings joy, creates understanding and helps children find the motivation to understand the complex world around them. For children on The Autism Spectrum, play offers us a unique opportunity to connect with a child in order to help them regulate their emotions and feelings, develop a relationships with others and to expand language and social skills. Structured play groups create a level of consistency and predictability in both the environment and the expectations designed to allow young children on the autism spectrum to engage in developmentally sound experiences in an environment with controlled and somewhat predictable sensory stimulus.

At The Butterfly House, we call the classroom where we have the playgroups our cocoon. The environment in this classroom is lots of structure and intentionally selected activities placed in the environment to spark joy and interaction with children. Children receive one-on-one support from either a parent, caregiver or staff member who serve as play partners for the children. We work on joint attention, coregulation and fuctional play together for six weekly hour and a half sessions. We introduce meaningful purposeful experiences and give you guidelines that help you facilitate interactions with your child.

In addition to functional play, we work on beginning language skills at the just right level for the child. This begins with eye contact and sound vocalization, expression, imitation and intentional movements, and joint attention and understanding. Simple social games and simple play skills are introduced. Each session includes a short group time followed by time for you to play with your child in our specialized classroom, with coaching from our playgroup facilitator. You will leave each session with a language strategy you can use at home.