“You have to get to the child’s level by making yourself the best toy in the room.”

~ Kristin Wittmayer

Can profound healing, skill development, and positive change happen through play?

In my youth, I sometimes viewed playtime as a reward for something far less exciting, as in “Clean your room, then you can play with your friends,” or “Finish your homework, then you can play outside until supper”. Even as an adult, the logic lingers: play is a well deserved prize for hard work.

But could play also be a vehicle for helping children (and adults) grow, and accomplish things that are important to their development?

These are the questions and ideas I’ve been pondering after my visit with Kristin Wittmayer at MoveU. Kristin is an occupational therapist who works alongside another OT, physical therapist, and speech therapist at MoveU. The team has the same goal in mind: making social connections, problem solving, confidence, skill development and joyfulness available to children through multisensory play. Kristin firmly believes that if you don’t make therapy fun, you run the risk of kids not wanting to participate in it and as such, increased difficulty in facilitating change and lasting impact. She talks about therapy as an artform and MoveU as the canvas where therapists and clients get to create their masterpieces.

I’m excited to talk with Kristin and explore how we each can reach new heights in our own lives through a little more playtime.