#61: Dr Kate Renshaw, play at the heart of childhood
About this episode
Dr Kate Renshaw discusses the importance of play in children's emotional development and learning.
Dr Kate Renshaw is a play therapist, educator, and researcher whose work centres on the role of play in children’s emotional development, learning, and wellbeing. Through her clinical practice, teaching, and advocacy, Kate has spent many years helping adults better understand the language of play and the profound insights it offers into children’s inner worlds. Her work bridges therapeutic practice and education, inviting teachers, parents, and professionals to see play not as a break from learning, but as one of the most powerful ways children learn, regulate, and make sense of their experiences. In this episode, Kate and Megan explore the foundations of play therapy and why play is such an essential part of healthy child development. Kate explains how play therapy draws from a range of experiential therapeutic approaches and how teachers, carers, and other adults can support children through play in everyday environments. They talk about developmentally appropriate learning, the importance of observation and curiosity when engaging with children, and why play is often the most natural language children have to communicate what they are feeling and experiencing. The conversation…
People in this episode
Host: Megan Corcoran
Guest: Dr Kate Renshaw
Topics covered
- play therapy
- child development
- emotional wellbeing
- learning through play
- adult-child interaction
Keywords
- play therapy
- childhood
- emotional development
- learning
- wellbeing
- observation
- curiosity
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