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Some children walk into a room full of toys and say they don’t know how to play.
Lovleen Walia hears it more than you would think. She is a certified Play Therapist in Singapore, using figurines, clay, art, sand trays instead of questions. She gives no instructions. She doesn’t interpret, yet children tell her things they have told no one else, which is why friends call her Mary Poppins. (She does not own an umbrella.)
At home, her two girls get close to zero screen time. She calls herself a strict mom. Her friends tell her to let the kids enjoy the movie.
We talk about what she sees when your child plays and you don’t, the $200 problem nobody has solved, and a conversation with her own mother that left the studio tearing up.
The next time your child says they are bored, you will want to have heard this first. Hit play.
What you’ll take away
- What happens when a child walks into a room full of toys and asks what to do
- Why Lovleen never asks a child a single question
- What a child lining up toys in silence might be telling a play therapist
- What Lovleen’s daughters say when the film ends (it is not what you would expect)
- The two rules behind a judgment-free play space at home
- The restaurant table game where anything can be anything
- The 10 minutes Lovleen asks every parent to hand over tonight
About the guest
Lovleen Walia is a certified play therapist in Singapore, one of very few practising a method that uses toys, sand trays and figurines instead of questions. Before therapy, she won Singapore’s spot on India’s first reality TV show, acted in Mumbai and taught drama to hundreds of children. She is a mother of two girls, teaches Punjabi, and is pushing for play therapy to reach schools and hospitals.
- Website: Northstar Theraplay
- Instagram: @northstar_theraplay
Growing Pains is HoneyKids Asia’s podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed.
If this one moved you, share it with a parent who needs to hear it. Or send your feedback and topic suggestions to podcast@honeykidsasia.com — we’d love to hear what you’d like us to talk about next.
Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore’s podcast studio.
