This leaves a large portion of our youth vulnerable to stigma, social exclusion, educational challenges, and health risks, which can become quite stressful with the addition of everyday challenges, peer pressure, and identity exploration. From our earliest memories, play has been a natural way to relieve stress and build positive relationships with ourselves and others. Yet somewhere along the way, the importance of play becomes overlooked. When we give youth the chance to play, we’re not just helping them reconnect with their natural instinct to have fun, we’re also enhancing vital cognitive skills like memory, problem-solving, and critical thinking—a much-needed reminder that growth and joy can go hand in hand!

The Cognitive Benefits of Digital Play

• Attention and Focus: The National Institutes of Health (2022) examined functional MRI brain scans of children who made time for daily play and found increased brain activity in areas linked to attention and memory, compared to those who didn't engage in play. Playing virtual games requires a client’s attention and focus which are essential skills for socialization, active listening, responsiveness, and awareness of social cues.
• Memory Building: Our Memory Game strengthens memory by challenging players to recall patterns and images, solidifying the foundation for better information retention. The interactive element of digital games provides therapists with immediate feedback, and clients with the opportunity to improve memory formation and skill acquisition.

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• Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking: Digital games encourage clients to experiment with strategies, make decisions, communicate their reasoning, and evaluate outcomes which help develop logical reasoning and adaptive thinking.

Practical Tips to Boost Cognitive Growth with Digital Games

• Set Goals with a Top-Down Approach: A top-down approach starts with setting big-picture goals, like improving memory or planning skills, to determine specifically which PlaySpace games best serve your client’s needs. This ensures that play directly aligns with attentive cognitive objectives, promoting focused and meaningful progress.
• Collaboratively Increase Complexity: It’s no secret that therapy thrives on collaboration with clients. Starting play therapy with familiar games, such as Tic Tac Toe, the Sand Tray, or PacMan, allows clients to connect with games they know and love while warming up to the idea of progressing to more complex activities to build confidence and cognitive endurance.
• Encourage Reflection: After a game, discuss what strategies the client used or challenges they faced to reinforce critical thinking and collaborative communication. This supports therapists in further developing action plans and helps clients foster a sense of autonomy over the direction of their sessions. Active reflection may also guide clients to try new games based on their interests or to revisit old favourites with new goals.
• Use Creative Interventions that Match Existing Interests: Storybooks, the Sandtray, and colouring tools promote self-expression and storytelling which build on playstyles we know and love to strengthen language and comprehension skills. The Sandtray incorporates established techniques, like grounding and role-playing, to offer a familiar yet effective way to address therapeutic goals and strengthen skills in a playful, engaging manner.

Digital games offer an evidence-based, engaging approach to cognitive development, enhancing therapy by making it not only enjoyable but highly effective. By embracing the cognitive benefits of digital play, therapists can design sessions that are both captivating and impactful. As virtual therapy keeps growing, it opens up exciting new ways to use digital games to boost growth and cognitive development. Creativity and attunement to play makes learning feel natural which helps young clients thrive mentally and emotionally while having a blast!

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