I did not anticipate a first aid kit would be such a great hit in the playroom. The kit just sits around the playroom and many children have enjoyed discovering all the items in the kit.
The first aid kit has been helpful for purposes such as:
familiarise a child with injection due to the covid vaccination program
discussing with parents about challenges going to the doctor and familiarise the child with the process
promoting child-parent interactions such as close proximity when the child is testing the parent
giving the opportunity for the child to be in charge of doing injections and tests to a parent when it is typically the opposite when unwell
being playful when exploring big feelings about being ill, covid, vaccinations
expressing emotions through play
explore tough experiences in a safe environment
process difficult experiences with related objects which facilitate thinking and language
The kit was just a quick purchase from a popular shop. I realise now how timeline the purchase was considering all the challenges experienced with covid-19. Children are really benefiting from playing it out and exploring big emotions through play in the safety of the playroom.
There is also an easy link here to make for children in terms of health and mental health. The doctor kit being more particularly related to physical symptoms needing to be looked at and then linking to how to look after mental health which is not necessarily visible or have a specific and tangible kit. The conversation can then be extended to building a mental health kit and developing coping cards to fit in the kit.
For parents, playing doctor can also be easily be done at home. Through play, children explore and create constructs of their world so giving them the opportunity to process big and current topics can be helpful for them to process big emotions related to health. Discussions can also be extended to include a mental health kit.
A number of resources are being developed at 3P. For more information, visit our website: https://3ppsychologies.com/products/
