Ready, Set, Play! is the only social skills playgroup that utilizes the I-LEARN-THROUGH-PLAY™ approach developed by Shirley Aninias. This social skills curriculum teaches children how to appropriately interact with others. Every lesson is thematic-based and structured so that every child can play with their peers while receiving the assistance of an experienced team. This program is tailored to enhance a child’s cognitive, social/emotional, and communication skills by incorporating music, movement, sensory, and interactive hands on projects to facilitate appropriate social interactions with their peers. This approach has shown to further enhance appropriate interactions in a variety of social settings.
Ready, Set, Play! Social skills playgroups specializes in the following areas:
Joint Attention
- Improving eye contact
- Responding to name
- Following directions
- Increasing affect
Cooperative Play
- Joining in/Initiating play
- Sharing an experience about what he she/he sees
- Sharing/turn taking
- Inferencing in social situations
- Negotiating a peer conflict
Conversation
- Sensing proximity when speaking
- Interacting with others
- Monitoring one’s behavior
- Acknowledging and responding to others
- Staying on topic
Self Regulation
- Improving frustration tolerance
- Coping with changes in routine
- Spatial awareness
- Using emotions to effectively communicate needs appropriately
- Reacting appropriately to others when things do not go their way
- Monitoring one’s behavior
Emotions
- Understanding non-verbal cues
- Facial expression
- Body language
- Using and understanding emotions
- Showing compassion
Friendships
- Recognizing friendships
- Sustaining friends
We use the areas above to help children learn what to say and do when interacting with peers utilizing contextual play themes. Here are some examples of our themes:
- Playing Store
- Birthday Party
- Airplane Ride
- Playing Doctor
- Talent Show
