How to Balance Structure and Free Play at Home

From a young age, children need to learn independence and be allowed to make choices for themselves. This is why free play is encouraged for children, as it gives them the opportunity to choose what they want to do and how they want to do it in a controlled and safe environment.

At the same time, children also need structure in their lives, as it teaches them the importance of schedules and reassures them that they’re safe.

Finding this perfect balance between structure and free play at home can be challenging for any parent, but especially so for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Below, we’ll discuss how to balance structure and free play at home for children with autism, incorporating many strategies and tools used in applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy).

Table Of Contents

Create Structure in the Day

Structure forms the foundation of finding this balance, and it starts with creating a consistent routine. Every family has things they need to get done in a day, and those often must be completed at a certain time and/or in a certain order.

Examples include everything from getting dressed to eating breakfast, going to school and work, doing homework, preparing and eating dinner, bathing and preparing for bed and going to sleep on time.

Children with ASD thrive on consistent routines. They often feel more confident and less anxious when they can predict what’s going to happen next.

Parents can provide that backbone for their children by creating a visual schedule that breaks down the different tasks for the day. This allows children to see step-by-step what they have to do and in what order.

They can see pictures of the current task, what’s next and what’s after that, and so on.

To help them with transitions from one task to the next, parents can use visual timers. These can help children understand how much time is left on the current task before it’s time to move onto the next one.

As children are able to successfully move from one task to the next, incorporate positive reinforcement. The reward system can be as simple as extra praise, time with a preferred item, or a token such as a sticker that they can build up and exchange later for something they like.

Build Flexibility and Free Play Into the Schedule

While children with autism thrive on routines, it’s also important to build some flexibility into the schedule. Being too rigid and strict with the routine can sometimes lead to children acting out and being resistant.

Of course, there are some parts of the schedule that are non-negotiable, but the more flexible you can be, the better. Your child may really want to play with a toy they love one morning, for example, and allowing them to do it while you prepare breakfast instead of having them sit at the table shows them that their opinions and preferences are valued.

This is also an integral part of free play, which teaches children the power of making choices.

It’s also important to build time for free play into the daily routine. Children can see this on the schedule and get excited for it, as they are able to explore their world at home in the ways they choose.

Just because they are engaging in free play, though, doesn’t mean you can’t be involved or integrate learning into it, either. Let your child take the lead when they have free play time, and follow them by role playing with them.

This helps them foster independence and creativity, while at the same time teaching them new skills, exposing them to new scenarios and helping them manage and modify their behaviors.

To do this, you can follow the principles of Natural Environment Teaching, or NET, which is a core strategy in ABA therapy. Examples include helping children practice asking for food during play so they can apply those skills when it’s time to actually eat, or teaching them how to follow directions by playing “Simon Says.”

Blue Gems ABA Helps Parents Achieve Balance at Home

Parental involvement is a big part of ABA therapy, as it helps to reinforce the principles that are taught during sessions so the skills can be generalized at home and in other scenarios. By teaching parents some of the strategies and tools that are used in ABA therapy, therapists can help parents support their children best.

At Blue Gems ABA, our team of experienced therapists can help parents balance structure and free play at home so their children with ASD feel valued, learn independence and creativity, and continue to build new skills while having fun.

To learn more, please contact us today.