The struggle of the virtual play date…

Children learn through play by interacting with people and things in their physical environment. Play is critical to the development of social skills, so many parents are turning to online play dates to fill the COVID-19 void. That said, if you have had the experience of scheduling a virtual play date, you may have found that the idea was much more fun in theory than in practice! Kids STRUGGLE with virtual play dates and virtual conversations, especially younger children. A FaceTime or video phone call is one thing when it is fun and exciting to chat with grandparents and family for a few minutes to check in. However, now that school and playtime are online, children are having to interact in ways that they never did before through video technology. This requires motivation to interact with the person on the other side of the screen, as well as certain prerequisite skills that include sitting, listening, attending, etc. that many children may struggle with or may not have developed yet. Many parents are finding that their children are less-than-successful on these video calls and that they are needing to play the role of master entertainer to encourage their children to play and chat about it to the person on the other end of the call. This article discusses the fact that parents are not alone and gives ideas to make these interactions more meaningful. Take a look!