How Play Therapy Helps Kids Adjust to Big Transitions
At Brittani Persha Counseling, play therapy can help children navigate big transitions by giving them a safe, developmentally appropriate way to process changes such as moving, starting a new school, divorce, a new sibling, or changes in family dynamics. Through play, children can express emotions they may not yet have the words for, practice coping skills, and build a greater sense of safety and confidence as they adjust to change.
Big transitions are a normal part of childhood. Moving to a new home, starting school, welcoming a new sibling, experiencing divorce or separation, changing caregivers, or coping with the loss of someone important can all bring significant changes to a child’s world.
While adults may understand why a transition is happening, children often experience change differently. A child may know that the family is moving, for example, but may not fully understand what it means to leave behind a familiar bedroom, neighborhood, friends, routines, or sense of security. Even positive changes can feel overwhelming when a child does not know what to expect.
Children also do not always have the words to explain what they are feeling. Instead, their emotions may show up through behavior: tantrums, withdrawal, clinginess, sleep difficulties, changes in appetite, irritability, regression, or trouble at school.
This is where play therapy can provide meaningful support.
Play therapy gives children a developmentally appropriate way to express feelings, process experiences, develop coping skills, and regain a sense of control during periods of change. Through play, children can communicate things they may not yet be able—or willing—to say directly.
If your child is experiencing a difficult time with a big transition, play therapy can help! Give us a call at 713-364-8645 to get started. We look forward to hearing from you!
Why Big Transitions Can Be Difficult for Children
Change can challenge a child’s sense of predictability and safety.
Adults often rely on conversation to process transitions. We can talk through our concerns, ask questions, research what will happen next, and make plans. Children, especially younger children, are still developing these abilities.
Instead, they tend to understand their world through experiences, relationships, routines, and play.
Consider a child whose parents are separating. An adult might explain that both parents love the child and that the separation is not the child’s fault. Those conversations are important, but the child may still be trying to make sense of questions such as:
- Where will I sleep?
- Will I still see both parents?
- What happens on holidays?
- Is my family still a family?
- Did I do something wrong?
- What if things change again?
A child may not ask these questions out loud. They might act them out with dolls, draw pictures, become unusually clingy, or repeatedly play out scenarios involving characters leaving and returning.
These behaviors are not necessarily signs that something is “wrong” with the child. They can be attempts to understand and master a confusing experience.
Play Therapy Gives Children a Language for Big Feelings
One of the most important ways play therapy can help during transitions is by giving children a way to express emotions that may be difficult to verbalize.
A child may not say:
“I’m anxious about leaving my friends.”
They might instead create a story about a character who has to leave home.
A child may not say:
“I’m angry that I don’t get to see Mom and Dad together anymore.”
They might repeatedly act out arguments between toy figures.
Another child might create drawings about a new school, build a new house with blocks, or repeatedly play games involving separation and reunion.
Through these activities, children can begin to explore feelings such as:
- Anxiety
- Anger
- Sadness
- Confusion
- Grief
- Jealousy
- Fear
- Excitement
- Loneliness
- Uncertainty
Play allows children to experience and organize these emotions without requiring them to find the perfect words.
Play Therapy Can Restore a Sense of Control
Transitions often involve situations children cannot control. Adults decide when the family will move. Parents may make decisions about separation or custody. A school determines classroom assignments. A new baby arrives whether or not an older sibling feels ready.
For children, this lack of control can be especially frustrating.
Play offers opportunities to make choices.
A child can decide which character moves into a new house. They can determine what happens next in a story. They can create rules for a game or choose whether a character feels scared, angry, brave, or excited.
These small decisions can help children experience themselves as capable and influential.
A therapist may also help children practice coping strategies through play. For example, a child might use puppets to rehearse what to say when meeting a new teacher or role-play asking a parent for help when feeling worried.
Instead of simply being told what to do, the child gets to practice it.
Play Therapy Helps Children Practice New Situations
One of the strengths of play is that it creates a safe space for rehearsal.
When children face an unfamiliar situation, uncertainty can make it frightening. Play allows them to experiment with possible scenarios before they happen.
For example, a child preparing to start kindergarten might use pretend play to:
- Pack a backpack
- Meet a pretend teacher
- Say goodbye to a parent
- Make a new friend
- Ask for help
- Eat lunch at school
- Navigate a difficult moment
A child who is moving to a new city might build a pretend neighborhood and explore what it could be like to live somewhere new.
A child adjusting to a blended family might use dolls or figures to explore different family roles and relationships.
This kind of rehearsal does not eliminate every worry, but it can make unfamiliar experiences feel more understandable.
Play Therapy Can Support Emotional Regulation
Big transitions can temporarily overwhelm a child’s ability to regulate emotions.
Parents may notice that a child who previously handled frustration well is suddenly having frequent meltdowns. Another child might become withdrawn or unusually sensitive. Some children may have trouble transitioning between activities or become upset by small changes.
Stress can affect a child’s ability to use coping skills that normally come naturally.
Play therapy can help children identify emotions and develop healthier ways to manage them.
Through games, movement, sensory activities, storytelling, and imaginative play, therapists can help children practice skills such as:
- Identifying emotions
- Taking a break
- Asking for help
- Using calming strategies
- Expressing anger safely
- Tolerating frustration
- Solving problems
- Communicating needs
- Managing worries
These skills can gradually transfer from the therapy room into everyday life.
life Transitions That Play Therapy Can Help With
Every child responds to change differently. A transition that feels exciting to one child may feel overwhelming to another.
Common transitions that may lead families to seek additional emotional support include:
Moving to a New Home
Moving can involve losing familiar surroundings, changing schools, leaving friends, and adjusting to new routines.
Play therapy can help children process feelings about what they are leaving behind while gradually exploring what the new environment might offer.
Starting a New School
Starting preschool, kindergarten, middle school, or another new school can bring excitement and anxiety.
Children may worry about teachers, classmates, academic expectations, separation from parents, or finding their place socially.
Play therapy can provide a safe setting for practicing new experiences and building confidence.
Divorce or Separation
Family restructuring can be especially complicated for children because relationships and routines may change simultaneously.
Play therapy can give children space to express sadness, anger, confusion, or fear without feeling responsible for managing their parents’ emotions.
Welcoming a New Sibling
A new baby can bring happiness while also creating feelings of jealousy, uncertainty, or displacement.
A child may need help adjusting to changes in attention, routines, and family roles.
Play can help children explore their feelings about becoming a sibling while developing healthy ways to express their needs.
Loss and Grief
Children experience grief differently from adults. They may move in and out of grief through short periods of sadness followed by seemingly ordinary play.
Play therapy can provide an emotionally safe environment where children can process loss according to their developmental needs.
Changes in Caregivers or Family Structure
Changes involving caregivers, blended families, foster care, adoption, or other family circumstances can introduce significant emotional and relational adjustments.
Play therapy can help children explore questions about belonging, safety, relationships, and identity in an age-appropriate way.
Featured Play Therapist at Brittani Persha Counseling
Jana Smith, LPC-A, is a therapist at Brittani Persha Counseling in Houston, TX. With extensive experience working with children, adolescents, and families, Jana specializes in helping children navigate anxiety, grief, trauma, PTSD, and emotional and behavioral challenges. She has a background in child welfare, foster care, and school-based therapy, where she supported children and families through complex and traumatic experiences. Jana uses play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused CBT, mindfulness-based techniques, and the TraumaPlay® Model to create a safe, empathetic environment where children can express their emotions, develop coping skills, and heal. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with Jana, please use the link below or call our office at 713-364-8645.
