One of the most wonderful ways to learn more about a child is to get down on the floor and play. It does not matter what the game is or what doll or race car they give you to use.

When children play they open up and talk. They demonstrate to you the things they have learned both good and bad. They challenge you to see what your response to their actions will be.

When you are down on the floor, they see you as no threat and they begin to smile or frown. They release positive or negative energy.

One good example for me was:

When April was five she had a Barbie car. She loved to run the car violently into things. One day I grabbed one of my old Barbies from the closet. I sat down and said ok who shall we be?

She named me Shar and she named her doll Penny. Penny was her birth mom's name. Who else could I be but Shar the foster mom.

She said, "Let's get dressed and go party Shar. Then she changed her doll's clothes and I put a new outfit on my doll too. I asked her where we were going. She said out to the bar to find us some men.

I just played along and listened to her. That was one very intensive lesson. I found out how she perceived her mom in her own eyes. I also got an insight to what she was thinking about me.

I was as wild as her mom but just cooked and cleaned more. I knew then that I had to show this little girl that I could be trusted and be her safe place to fall.

I never understood until that day why therapists let children play. I also didn't understand why they did not play with them. They just tried to sit back and observe. For a therapist to be effective, they must be able to keep their professionalism with the child, but let the child know they can feel comfortable with them. For every intensive therapy session there will be at least two or three light-hearted play therapy sessions.

By playing with your child at home, you will see how they begin to heal and how their attitudes about life change.

It is a very enlightening experience to just sit on the floor and play. Let the windows to the child's life open up wide and eventually you will be welcomed to walk inside their world. So get down and play.