Taking your play therapy room on the go can be a challenge. When space is at a premium, creativity is more important when you are a traveling therapist. This article aims to bring some creative ideas to help make it more manageable. I have scoured the internet to find some great resources and ideas.
by Meehan Mental Health
This site offers a guide for items to have on hand when you have to travel. It has a list of items that you will need for play therapy and includes links for where to find them. I like that it has resources for a traveling sand tray.
Sometimes it is not feasible to move an entire room of play items into your temporary space. I have often pulled out my laptop or tablet to play games or show short videos to support what we are working on in session. I have created these online play therapy rooms to support telehealth therapists, but all of these tools can also be used in person. It includes an online sand tray, lots of games, videos, and activities. I also use it as a bulletin board to keep resources for parents. I can quickly pull it up when a parent asks for a recommendation for what to do for a specific issue. You can also add your own resources to it.
by A Girl and a Glue Gun
This foldable fabric dollhouse brings the play to life while you are on the go. This page offers a tutorial on how to make these little dollhouses.
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by Studio Collectionaise
This is a cool idea. You can make dollhouses out of cereal boxes to make an on the go play place. This could be a fun craft activity to have children customize their own dollhouse.
by Autodesk Instructables
This is a helpful idea. You can create a play mat for kids to set up the Legos and play on, then pull the ties to store the Legos when you are done with the session. This would be a quick and easy way to get your Legos in and out while you are on the go.
by Making Things Is Awesome
These would be inexpensive to make and wouldn't take up much space. They are made from sandwich boxes and Lego toys from Dollar Tree.
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Baggie or File Folder Games
I may be partial, but I think games are the most powerful force in therapy with children. They can learn skills, process emotions, work on social skills, and so much more! Be sure to visit my store, as all of my books and games would be great for travel, as they take up little space and have all you need for a powerful therapy session. There are way too many games to list here, but I do have a link to a list of games organized by presenting problem. There are well over 100 games listed, all under $20. Most of these would be helpful for traveling therapists.
by Be A Fun Mum
Love. Love. Love. This picture screams portable sand tray. It's like doing sand tray with playdough as the medium instead of sand. This could be perfect for traveling therapists, as it would take up little space, no need to tote a sand tray, and you could switch out the kits to provide variety. Each kit has a different theme, allowing exploration of specific issues.
Homemade dolls are also another area to explore. Creating these with kids would be a fun activity as well. This is just a brilliant idea that could be used in so many ways.
by Party Through the USA
This site offers helpful ideas for storage for playdough while you are on the go and ways to build kits so that when you get to your session, everything is prepared ahead of time. I like the variety of ideas on this site.
by Fun Sensory Play
Sensory toys are helpful for emotional regulation. This site has creative ways to build a sensory box that you could take with you into sessions. You might create a few of them and rotate them so kids can get different sensory experiences. I always enjoy making coping skill toolboxes with kids when we begin counseling. Many of these ideas could be integrated.
by Mindy Makes
This one is cute and functional. The mat can be rolled out for kids to drive the cars on, then can be rolled up and hold the cars for storage.
by Creative Green Living
This site offers ideas for a travel kit with all your favorite doctor or dentist toys. These are always helpful when kids are worried about medical visits, processing past medical issues, or simply building connections. Playing doctor is a way for kids to work on nurture issues. This could be useful with children with somatic symptoms.
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by Family Fresh Meals
This would be an easy way to contain the art mess. You can have your paper and crayons or markers all bundled together for easy access and quick cleanup.
by Mama. Papa. Bubba.
I like the idea of using these durable zipper bags to keep everything together in a binder. You could have all of your resources for the week planned out and just zip them up in their respective bags and you are set!
Scrapbook Bag
I used to use a scrapbook bag like this when I had to travel between schools. It rolled like a suitcase and had a pullout handle on it. It also had dividers and storage built into the sides and top, but a big space to fill with toys and goodies in the middle. It made traveling around much easier and doable. The image shown is from Amazon, but there are a lot of options out there. The one I had was wider, more square in shape, and allowed more storage space.
Thanks for reading this post. I hope you have found some new ideas and are inspired. What tips and tricks have you learned? Comment below to share your experience. Be sure to read the other blog posts in this creative play therapy interventions series:
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