Playing to Increase Social Interaction and Learning at a Child and Adolescent Inpatient Treatment Program

• In Event: Playful Learning Landscapes: Increasing Access to Informal Learning Opportunities for Children and Families

Abstract

Objectives

The prevalence of mental health disorders among children and adolescents is increasing in the United States and around the world. As a result, greater numbers of children and adolescents are taking part in in-patient mental health treatment programs. While in an inpatient facility, however, there is also room to introduce playful learning into children’s unstructured time, which may serve as both an emotional buffer and learning enhancement.

Perspective(s)

Featuring playful learning, a broad pedagogical approach using the child-directed play methods of free play, guided play, and games (Hassinger-Das et al., 2017), the Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL) initiative provides a unique way to foster learning and engagement within everyday contexts. Activities are designed to heighten adult-child discourse and engagement in activities involving literacy, mathematics, and spatial topics (Bustamante et al., 2019), as well as six critical skills for success in today’s world—collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence (Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek, 2016).

Little, however, is known about how playful learning might affect the inpatient mental health hospitalization experience for children. Children in crisis need support to establish safety, experience connection, and manage emotional impulses (Bath, 2008), making a trauma-informed approach appropriate to foster supportive social connections and build self-confidence, resilience, and coping skills. Opportunities for play might act as a buffer for stress caused by these kinds of life disruptions by nurturing interactions (Yogman, et al., 2018). By targeting the play opportunities to highlight concepts like numbers and measurement, as well as executive functioning skills, children’s play can also foster academic skills.

Methods/Data sources

Participants were 98 groups consisting of 240 children (middle childhood-aged through adolescence) and 82 adult staff members at a child and adolescent inpatient treatment program in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In consultation with the program’s staff, two PLL designs–Lifesize Ruler and Jumping Feet–were installed in the facility. The installations were placed within a common area where staff members frequently gather and interact with children. The large, rectangular space included several chairs surrounding a television.

Results

As a result of observing children and adolescents both pre- and post-installation, results showed a large, statistically-significant difference and revealed that adults and children interacted more overall after the designs were installed (z = -7.66, p < .001, n2 = 0.61). Other results suggested that children and adolescents’ social interactions, use of STEM-related language, and 21st century skills, including confidence, significantly increased after interacting with the installations (see Table 1, Figures 1, and 2).

Significance

Although previous research on PLL projects demonstrated the efficacy of transforming public spaces into places for playful learning, this research provides support that, even in private, targeted settings, using a trauma-informed approach, children and adolescents can reap the benefits of playful learning. These findings suggest that children and adolescents might also benefit from light touch interventions suited to meet their needs in other places, such as waiting rooms, exam rooms, and other medical environments.

Authors

• Brenna Hassinger-Das, Pace University

• Katelyn Fletcher, Overdeck Family Foundation

• Rachel Todaro, City of Philadelphia

• Molly Scott, Active Playful Learning

• Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University