Revisiting Adult Roles in Play: An Expanded Continuum for Child Life Professionals

Play is a foundational part of child life practice, yet theory and training provide inconsistent guidance on the roles that child life specialists should take within children’s play. While child-centered approaches tend to be emphasized in education, clinical practice often involves adult-guided play interventions, creating a disconnect for emerging professionals as they learn to effectively integrate play into practice. This paper examines how developmental theory has shaped perspectives on adult involvement in play and revisits Rosemary Bolig’s seminal works proposing a continuum from nondirective to directive play. Drawing insights from recent literature on guided play for learning, an expanded continuum of adult roles in play is proposed which considers child autonomy and adult responsivity in the context of child life goals. This revised model outlines a spectrum of adult roles between nondirective and directive to emphasize the importance of intentional adult engagement. This framework, grounded in both theory and clinical realities, offers a practical tool for child life specialists to assess and adapt their involvement in play based on the needs of individual children and specific therapeutic goals.