Play Matters Creative Therapy

10/05/2026

SECOND CHANCE SUNDAY

SATS week begins next week for many children across the UK, and for some families this can bring big feelings, pressure, worry, or anxiety.

This is the first post in a small SATS support series, beginning with a Curious Conversations piece designed to gently open up conversations with children about worries, pressure, mistakes, and self-worth during SATS week.

Curious Conversations helps children feel seen, understood, and emotionally safe around tricky topics.

More SATS support posts to come over the next few days.

For printer friendly copy, see instructions in the visual.

02/05/2026

Some children walk out of school smiling…
and fall apart the moment they get home.

It can feel confusing, exhausting, even personal.
But this isn’t bad behaviour — it’s release.

All day long, your child has been holding it together.
Following rules, managing noise, navigating friendships, masking feelings.

By the time they reach their safe place — you —
their nervous system can’t hold any more.

What looks like a sudden outburst is often
a full day of stress finally spilling over.

When we understand what’s underneath,
we can respond with connection instead of correction.

If this resonates, you’re not alone — and your child isn’t trying to make things hard.
They’re showing you where they feel safest.

To SAVE, click on the image, tap the three dots, and choose Save.

For deeper support, practical strategies, and ready-to-use tools, explore the After School Restraint Collapse Toolkit — link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

01/05/2026

25/04/2026

12/12/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17kuohpSqY/

📣 Helpful New Resource for Families!

The Lighthouse Child Development Centre has created a super-handy contact sheet with all their key phone numbers in one place — ASD, OT, physio, speech and language, and specialist health visitors. No more digging around trying to track down the right number!

It’s an easy resource you can save to your phone, screenshot, or even pin to the fridge for quick access whenever you need it.

A small thing that we hope makes life just a little bit easier for our parent carers. 💙

29/11/2025

This terrifying advert is a powerful reminder to parents not to over-share details about their children on social media

29/11/2025

A meltdown isn’t a child “acting out” — it’s a nervous system in overload.
When you understand what’s happening inside the child, it becomes so much easier to meet them with steadiness instead of stress.

Today’s visual shares the Voice of a Child during a Meltdown — the things they wish they could say when their body and brain are overwhelmed.

If you’d like a deeper, brain-based breakdown of what happens before, during and after a meltdown, you’ll find it inside Timeline of a Meltdown — link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

What’s one thing you wish you had known about meltdowns earlier?

25/11/2025

Time-in teaches the emotional skills that time-out simply can’t. When a child is overwhelmed, isolating them doesn’t build regulation — it removes the very support their nervous system needs to calm. Time-in keeps the adult close, offering safety, modelling coping strategies, and helping the child return to regulation with connection.

Today’s visual breaks down what time-in teaches, and why this approach supports long-term emotional resilience far more effectively than traditional time-out strategies.

For families looking to strengthen emotional skills at home, our Managing Big Feelings Toolkit is available via the link in comments below ⬇️ or through the Linktree Shop in Bio.

25/11/2025

Today we’re focusing on the difference between Time-Out and Time-In — two approaches that look similar on the surface but shape emotional development in completely different ways.

This simple truth sits at the heart of brain-based, connection-focused discipline. Regulation is taught through presence, not isolation — and today’s posts will explore exactly why.