Play Is the Language of Children
Oct 20, 2025
Dear Parent,
When we think of play, we imagine giggles and games, but underneath that joy is something biologically profound.
Play is how children—especially those from difficult beginnings—learn that connection can be safe.
If a child’s early world taught them that adults can’t be trusted, that joy leads to chaos, or that love disappears when they need it most, then play becomes the quiet therapist waiting in the wings.
Hey parents, play is how you can help your child feel these things:
I am seen. I am safe. I am allowed to have fun.
Unfortunately, many of us parents never learned that language either.
If you grew up in a house where work mattered more than wonder, where emotions were too messy, or where play was “a waste of time,” then of course, play feels awkward, even boring.
You weren’t fluent in joy.
Awkward is not broken, so there is good news...
Brains can learn new languages at any age.
When you crouch down, make a silly face, or enter your child’s world without controlling them, you’re doing something miraculous:
You’re teaching both your nervous systems that life is good.
As Dr. Dan Siegel says, “Our mirror neuron system allows us to resonate with others—to feel felt.”
That’s what play does—it lets your child feel felt.
And in the process, it helps you feel free.
So today, start small.
Five minutes of connection. A shared laugh. A playful voice.
Your nervous system may not know the steps yet, but your heart does.
Because play is the language of children—and the dialect of healing adults who are brave enough to learn it again.
Love Matters,
Ce
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Creator of the Love+ Parenting Model found only in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program.
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