PlayGroup Threads

Our PlayGroup curriculum is based on 10 threads that we weave together to make up the fabric of PlayGroup. We use this imagery of thread because when woven together the threads make up the blanket of comfort that wrap around each individual child/family we work with to the structures of our organization. We know that individuals do their best when they feel safe, cared for and seen. The PlayGroup blanket wraps around all of us at PlayGroup to feel safe, cared for and seen so that we can be our best selves. 

We individualize all of our groups and interactions to meet individual needs. We think of this as pulling stronger on a specific thread. For example, when we have a group of children who are working on their awareness of their interoceptive systems, we will have more emphasis on our regulation/sensory play thread. While another group of children might be working on initiating and sustaining play, we would pull on our executive function thread. Our group goals/area of focus all come from our threads. 

Another aspect of our threads is that they are always evolving as we learn more and grow. As lifelong learners, we know that our ideas and practices can not stay stationary. We must evolve to match the needs of our groups. Because of that, our threads change and we add more as we learn how to do our work more effectively. Our current threads are: 

• Community Building

• Play

• Emotional Language/ identification

• Co-Regulation/ Sensory system

• Executive Function skills

• Self-advocacy

• Perspective-taking and Neurodiversity

• Advocacy beyond PlayGroup

• Behavior has meaning

• Communication

Why do we say focus and not goals? 

We say focus instead of goals because we are not goal-oriented. We do not run our groups with one specific checkbox to achieve. We have areas of focus that we are working towards. An area of focus where we use tools and support to gain more strength and capacity towards. We know that social skills are individual and nuanced and are not one size fits all. We are highly individualized in our approach. By using the concept of focus, we are being more inclusive by allowing many ways of working on a similar idea.