[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-601296-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":79,"doc-detail-601296-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":72,"head_meta":74,"extra_data":76,"updated_unix":78},105,"en","everyone-plays-recapturing-play-for-children-with-special-needs","Everyone Plays! - Recapturing Play for Children with Special Needs","","Everyone Plays! focuses on restoring access to meaningful, child-directed play for children with special needs in early childhood settings. It examines barriers created by reduced preschool play and limited recess, as well as pressures from standards and accountability. The content explains how inclusive classroom climates, cultural competence, and teacher-led scaffolding support participation, engagement, and social-emotional growth through free play, observation, intervention, and reflective play experiences.",{"@graph":14,"@context":71},[15,34,54],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/everyone-plays-recapturing-play-for-children-with-special-needs/601296/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":48,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":49,"interactionStatistic":50},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/everyone-plays-recapturing-play-for-children-with-special-needs/601296.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"hdkawk","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":51,"interactionType":52,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":53},"ViewAction",{"@type":55,"mainEntity":56},"FAQPage",[57,63,67],{"name":58,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":60},"Why do children with learning and thinking differences sometimes disrupt play?","Question",{"text":61,"@type":62},"Children may have difficulty with impulse control and may struggle to filter words or actions, or may not realize when they are being too forceful.","Answer",{"name":64,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":65},"What barriers reduce play opportunities for children with special needs?",{"text":66,"@type":62},"Developmental delays or disabilities, limited experience with typically developing peers, and reduced play schedules—plus the elimination or reduction of recess—can restrict access to play.",{"name":68,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":69},"What is the teacher’s role in child-directed free play?",{"text":70,"@type":62},"Teachers prepare the environment, provide open-ended materials and ample time, observe engagement, and intervene wisely with targeted scaffolding and modeling based on each child’s needs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":73,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":75,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":77,"site_id":7},601296,1792107447,{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":81},"success",[82,86,90,94,99,104,108,113,118,121,125],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":83,"show_sort_weight":84,"slug":85},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":87,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":120},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":124},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":128},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":130},{"doc_id":77,"user_id":131,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":105,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":95,"language":138,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":142,"read_time":143},3985747859855,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Everyone Plays!  \nRecapturing Play for Children with Special Needs  \nLin Moore and Elaine Zweig  \nA child with a special need moves quickly toward children who are playing a game at a table in the classroom. He shoves one of the children out of the way and disturbs the pieces of the game on the table. Does this sound familiar? Children with learning and thinking differences sometimes lack impulse control and have difficulty filtering their words or actions. They may not pay attention or be unknowingly insulting. It is possible that the child does not realize when he is being too forceful.  \nChildren with special needs may have less access to play due to the nature of their developmental delay or disability or their lack of experience with typically developing peers. Many preschoolsand kindergartens have reduced play in their daily schedules and elementary schools have reduced or eliminated recess (Jarrett et al., 2015; Zigler & Bishop-Josef, 2006) . The current focus on state standards, push-down curricula, academic rigor, and accountability further leaves teachers wondering how to do it all (Mraz et al. , 2016; Riley-Ayers & Figueras-Daniel, 2019) . Consequently, we are facing a disappearance of play (Bodrova & Leong, 2003; Rentzou et al., 2019) . As early childhood educators, we are responsible to ensure that all children have access to play opportunities and can fully participate in child-directed free play and play-based curriculum experiences. Children with special needs may require additional supports for access and full participation (Division for Early Childhood, 2014, 2016) .  \nPlay is a dynamic process with multiple definitions that emphasize active engagement in activities that are often spontaneous, intrinsically motivated, and pleasurable or fun (Allee-Herndon, 2019; Paes & Eberhart, 2019; Zosh et al., 2018) . Experts agree that play contributes to the growth and development of children in cognitive, social and emotional, physical, and communication domains (Frost et al., 2012; Hassinger-Das et al. , 2019; Singer, 2006; Sluss, 2019; Zigler & Bishop-Josef, 2006;) . Where do we begin to effectively support play for children with special needs?  \nInclusion of All Children  \nCreating an inclusive classroom climate by welcoming all children regardless of their abilities enhances a community of learners (Gronlund & Rendon, 2017) . Children practice making friends, helping one another, and respecting individual differences. Teachers learn about each child and their family members to identify strengths, attention and activity levels, play preferences, and special interests (Division for Early Childhood, 2016) . Teachers are mindful that children represent diverse cultures and have a range of prior experiences, which may possibly include chronic stress and trauma. In addition, many children are dual-language learners. Consequently, teachers must draw upon cultural competence by valuing diversity, supporting home languages, and  \nmanaging children’s challenging behaviors (Gronlund & Rendon, 2017; National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2019) . Often, this will require intentional planning and targeted interventions by teachers.  \nThe Role of the Teacher in Child-directed Play  \nChild-directed play may be referred to as free play or discovery play. Children use creativity, pretense, and symbolic representation to make sense of their world (Moore & Zweig, 2021; Sluss, 2019) . Child-directed play provides opportunities for children to initiate exploration, to manipulate play props and re-arrange loose parts, and to practice persistence. The teacher’s role is an active one by addressing the needs of each child. Preparing the environment, arranging the space, selecting appropriate learning materials, and providing ample time in the daily schedule takes intentional planning. It is important to provide open-ended, appealing materials  \n14 Dimensions • Volume 50/Number 1  \nin adequate quantities to offer choices t","cbCaimGOcePD7lmY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimGOcePD7lmY","pdf",195294,"English","# Inclusion of All Children\n## The Role of the Teacher in Child-directed Play\n# Interventions to Support Free Play","[{\"question\":\"Why do children with learning and thinking differences sometimes disrupt play?\",\"answer\":\"Children may have difficulty with impulse control and may struggle to filter words or actions, or may not realize when they are being too forceful.\"},{\"question\":\"What barriers reduce play opportunities for children with special needs?\",\"answer\":\"Developmental delays or disabilities, limited experience with typically developing peers, and reduced play schedules—plus the elimination or reduction of recess—can restrict access to play.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the teacher’s role in child-directed free play?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers prepare the environment, provide open-ended materials and ample time, observe engagement, and intervene wisely with targeted scaffolding and modeling based on each child’s needs.\"}]","Everyone Plays! - Recapturing Play for Children with Special Needs | PDF",1792092349,13]