Floor Time: A warm and intimate way of relating to a child. A floor time philosophy means engaging, respecting and getting in tune with the child in order to help the child elaborate through gestures, words, and pretend play what is on the child's mind. As a technique, floor time is a five-step process that is used to support the emotional and social development of the child.

Opening the Circle of Communication: Tuning in and following a child's special interest.

Closing the Circle: Allowing the child to bring  your extensions and expansions to a close.

Two-Way Communication: The child is able to have an emotional dialogue. Opening and closing circles can take place. You need to take an interest in and respond to the child, and the child responds with gestural and verbal reactions. (In typical children, this ability is evident when the child is 6 to 18 months months old.)

Observing: Noticing how the child is special and unique in style, rhythm and mood.

Engagement: Babies coo, smile, gesture and exchange motor movements with their partners. (0 to 8 months)

Following the Child's Lead: Seeing the child as the director and yourself as the assistant director of the activity.

Extending and Expanding the Drama: Tuning in to the child's imagination and ideas and taking them one step further through gestures and words.

Emotional Thinking: The child leans to elaborate fantasies and to make connections between different ideas. (3 to 5 years)

Shared Meanings: The child begins to communicate ideas with words or pretend play. Emotional themes enter the child's play. The child uses themes not only to express wants and needs but also to expand fantasies and creativity. (18 to 36 months)

Stages of Relating: Stages in emotional and social development of children.

Both listening to and watching a child are essential for effective observation. Facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body posture, and words  (or lack of words) are all-important clues that help you determine how to approach the child.

• Is the child's behavior relaxed or outgoing?
• Is he or she withdrawn or uncommunicative?
• Is he or she bubbling with excitement?
• Is the child a real go-getter?

Once a child's mood and style have been assessed, you can approach the child with the appropriate words and gestures. You can open the circle of communication with a child by acknowledging the child's emotional tone, then elaborating and building on whatever interests the child at the moment.

After your initial approach, following a child's lead simply means being a supportive play partner who is an "assistant" to the child and allows the child to set the tone, direct the action, and create personal dramas. This enhances the child's self-esteem and ability to be assertive, and gives the child a feeling that "I can have an impact on the world." As you support the child's play, the child benefits from experiencing a sense of warmth, connectedness and being understood.

As you follow the child's lead, extending and expanding a child's play themes involves making supportive comments about the child's play without being intrusive. This helps the child express own ideas and defines the direction of the drama. Next, asking questions to stimulate creative thinking can keep the drama going, while helping the child clarify the emotional themes involved, e.g.: suppose a child is crashing a car: Rather than ask critically, Why are those cars crashing? You may respond empathetically, Those cars have so much energy and are moving fast. Are they trying to get somewhere?

As you open the circle of communication when you approach the child, the child closes the circle when the child builds on your comments and gestures with comments and gestures of own. One circle flows into another, and many circles may be opened and closed in quick succession as you interact with the child. By building on each other's ideas and gestures, the child begins to appreciate and understand the value of two-way communication.

• Approach the child with a supportive attitude, sharing surprise, Oh no what happened? What's the matter?
• Help the child solve the problem, but wait for the child to recognize the problem first and then encourage the process.
• Stretch the problem as long as possible by playing dumb
• Offering wrong solutions so the child can check out several alternatives
• Ask questions and opinions about what they want, etc.

Remember: The goal is not to frustrate the child but to mobilize the child's thinking and acting in face of something which matters personally to him or her.

• Identify real-life experiences the child knows and enjoys and have toys and props available to play out those experiences

• Respond to the child's real desires through pretend actions

• Allow the child to discover what is real and what is a toy

• Encourage role playing with dress-up props, use puppets - the child may prefer to be the actor before using symbolic figures

• Use a specific set of figures/dolls to represent family members and identify other figures with familiar names

• Give symbolic meaning to objects as you play:

Some Examples -

When the child climbs to top of the sofa, pretend the child is climbing a tall mountain.

When the child slides down the slide at the playground, pretend the child is sliding into the ocean and watch out for the fish.

• Substitute one object for another when props are needed. Pretend that the ball is a cake or the spoon is a birthday candle.
• Resume use of gestures for props along with toy objects and substitutes
• As you play, help the child elaborate on personal intentions.

Ask who is driving the car,

where the car is going,

whether the child has enough money,

did the child remember the keys to the car,

why is the child going there,

why not somewhere else, etc.

• Expand as long as you can. (Use all of the Who, What, Where, Why, When questions, and keep them open ended)
• Make use of breakdowns.

When a problem crops up during play, create symbolic solutions.

Get the doctor kit when the doll falls so the child can help the hurt doll, tool kit for broken car.

• Acknowledge the child's disappointment and encourage empathy.
• Get involved in the drama.
• Be a player and take on a role with your figure.

Talk directly to the dolls rather than questioning child about what is happening or narrating

Both help the child and be your own player.

Talk as an ally (perhaps whispering), but also have your figure oppose or challenge the child's ideas.

• Insert obstacles into the play. (e.g.: make your bus block the road. Then speaking as a character, challenge child to respond. If necessary, get increasingly urgent (whispering to child to encourage to deal with the problem, offer help if needed by becoming an ally).
• Use symbolic figures the child knows and loves, such as Barney, Disney or Sesame Street characters, to generate symbolic play. Reenact familiar scenes or songs, create new ideas, and notice characters and themes child may be avoiding or fear.
• Use play to help the child understand and master ideas/themes, which may have been frightening. Work on fantasy and reality.
• Let the child be the director. Child's play need not be realistic (the child may still be a magical thinker) but encourage logical thinking.
• Focus on the process as you play; which character to be, what props are needed when ideas have changed, what the problem is, when to end the idea, etc. Identify the beginning, middle and end.
• As you play, match your tone of voice to the situation. Pretend to cry when a character is hurt, cheer loudly when your character is happy, speak in rough or spooky tones when you are playing the bad guy. Remember, drama, drama, drama to give the child affect cues.
• Reflect on the ideas and feelings in the story both while playing and later on as you would with other real life experiences
• Discuss the child's abstract themes such as good guy/bad guy, separation/loss, and various emotions such as closeness, fear, jealousy, anger, bossy, competition, etc.

• Follow the child's lead, build on the child's ideas
• Challenge the child to create new ideas in pretend play
• Heighten affect and engagement
• Practice and expand rapid back and forth interactions and conversations (gesturally and verbally)
• Carry on logical conversations all the time (e.g.: while driving, at meals, during baths etc.) Content does not have to be realistic

• Encourage understanding of fantasy-reality

• Recognize fears and avoidance of certain feelings, themes and characters.

• During play and conversations, get the beginning, middle and end of the story or idea - identify problems to be solved, motives and feelings - accept all feelings and encourage empathy
• Select books to read that have themes, motives and problems to solve - discuss alternative outcomes, feelings
• Encourage abstract thinking:

Ask why questions

Ask for opinions

Compare and contrast different points of view

Reflect on feelings - come back to experiences again later

Don't ask questions you know the answer to

Don't tell the child which dimensions to use

• Use visualization - picture yourself
• Avoid rote, fragmented, academic questions
• Be creative

Some Examples - 

If the child puts his foot in pretend pool, ask if it's cold.

If the child is thirsty, offer her an empty cup or invite her to a tea party

If the child is hungry, open a toy refrigerator and offer some food, pretend to cook, or ask if he will go to pretend market with you to get things to eat.

If the child want to leave, give her pretend keys or a toy car

If the child lies down on the floor or couch, get a blanket or pillow, turn off the lights, and sing a lullaby.

• Encourage role playing with dress-up props, use puppets - child may prefer to be the actor before the child uses symbolic figures.
• Use a specific set of figures/dolls to represent family members and identify other figures with familiar names.
• Get involved in the drama. Be a player and take on a role with your own figure. Talk directly to the dolls rather than questioning child about what is happening or narrating.

• Encourage "undoing"

Examples - 

Move an object in line

Cover a desired object

Put a puzzle piece in wrong place

Bury desired objects under other toys and very different objects

Hide the desired object from the place where child last put it

• Provide destinations for actions - treat every act as intentional and symbolic

Child throws a ball - catch it in basket

Child holds figure (little person, animal) -bring over toy slide, school bus, food (if child does not use spontaneously, ask if the figure would like to... give choices if needed...ask figure directly...try not to direct)

Child taps - bring over drums (can be plate, plastic toy, sticks etc)

Child rolls car - bring over garage, crash into it, block with figure

Child reaches for hand - play give me five, variations, dance

• Create problems to solve - require multiple steps

Put desired objects in boxes to open, untie, remove tape or rubber band

Pretend an object needs to be fixed using tools, tape, rubber bands, Band-Aids (symbolic)

Create obstacles for the child to get around, move, or restore to the correct position

hold a book to read upside down and/or backwards

Offer pens/markers which do not work

Sit in the child's special place

Get to where the child is running first

Hide an object the child desires in one hand or the other so that the child can choose

When the child seeks your hand instead of using his own hand, put your hands on your head or in your pocket

Put socks on the child's hands instead of feet

Give the child your shoes to put on

Make the desired toy/object a moving target (move from place to place)

• Be playful and supportive as you encourage and expand interactions
• Change the environment frequently to encourage flexibility, create problems and expand discussion

Move expected objects (change drawer content, change content in baskets)

Rearrange furniture and create problems (child finds chair upside down, or is told to sit down when chair is across the room)

Hang up pictures from magazines at eye level and change frequently

• Encourage the child to initiate/continue action

Ready, set, Go!

Put the toy the child was using back in the child's hand. (Oh, you dropped, forgot)

provide cues - uh oh, knock, knock, help

Use indirect prompts (call the figures to come, where are you?)

Bring over the next step (puppet to eat pretend food, mirror to see the hat etc.)

Trade objects, positions

• Deal with the consequences of actions symbolically

Baby doll falls (is dropped) - Uh oh! He's crying. Are you hurt? Get a bandage. Go to the doctor. Call an ambulance...

Car crashes - Oh no, it's broken! Can you fix it mechanic?

Basket is dropped - What a mess! What do we do now?

• Model/mediate the sequence of actions needed to solve problems
• Plan your idea - discuss what the child will need for their ideas

Get toys/props the child will need

Identify settings and destinations

While playing, identify problems and sequence of solutions

Identify beginning, middle and end

Challenge, reason, negotiate

• Play interactive song-hand games

Itsy bitsy spider

one potato two potato

slap my hand

sailor went to sea, sea, sea

• Play Treasure Hunt and use maps (use visual and verbal cues)
• Play games

Social playground/party games

Board games (cognitively challenging)

Cooking

Drama

Arts and craft activities

• Encourage athletic activities

Individual sports such as tennis, roller skating, shooting baskets, ice skating

group sports such as soccer, baseball, basketball

Gymnastics

Tae Kwon Do

To assist the child in learning to solve problems and handle changes, identify opportunities in the child's daily life which present a "stage" for problem solving and change accepting "dramas"

Brainstorm how you could utilize the following opportunities: