Working as a Child Analyst in a Community Daycare Program

ABSTRACT The work described illustrates the importance of active playing in childhood as a subjective activity from age two-and-one-half years up to at least five years old, as a means of communicating nonverbally, especially when words are not yet readily available. It is a young child’s way of exploring the world and his own interests, while also communicating what matters to him emotionally. It requires adults to translate and understand what playing communicates and actually means, and why it matters emotionally. Playing enhances relationships and is useful in conveying and furthering interpersonal understanding, gradually becoming ever more verbal.