Episode 4: Toys: adaptive, inclusive, and surprisingly powerful | The Toy Library Effect Podcast
- Sep 1
- 8 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
In Episode 4 of The Toy Library Effect, host Penny Johnston is joined by occupational therapist Cassie Doyle, physiotherapist Nicole Pates, speech pathologist Alice Crook and play therapist Dr Kate Renshaw to explore how toys can support learning, communication, movement and participation and why inclusive play isn't about finding the ‘perfect’ toy.
Listen now:
In this episode
Why toys don't need to be used in just one way.
How borrowing gives families the freedom to try different toys without the pressure of buying.
The value of rotating toys and introducing novelty into children's play.
How sensory toys and everyday toys can support regulation, movement and development.
Why a child's own choice and interests matter.
How adapted and switch toys can create opportunities for children to play more independently.
Episode overview
A toy might come with an age range, instructions or a particular purpose, but children often have very different ideas about how they want to use it. This episode explores the value of looking beyond labels and thinking creatively about the many ways toys can support play and development.
Toy libraries give families access to a wide variety of toys, allowing children to explore different ways of developing and practising skills without families needing to continually purchase new resources. Trying different toys that support similar skills can also help children practise what they are learning across different situations.
Choice is important too. When children choose the toys that interest and motivate them, it creates opportunities for communication, engagement and play, even when that toy may not be the one an adult or professional would have chosen.
The episode also looks at sensory and adapted toys. From rockers and spinners to switch-adapted toys, the right resources can create new opportunities for regulation, movement, independence and participation. For some children with physical disability, an adapted toy can provide an important experience of independently making something happen through their own movement.
Ultimately, inclusive play isn't about finding the perfect toy or expecting every child to play in the same way. It's about giving children opportunities to participate, experiment, learn and have fun in ways that work for them.
Meet our guests
Penny Johnston
Podcast host
Penny Johnston is an experienced Australian broadcaster and podcast host, best known for her work with ABC Radio and the Babytalk podcast. In The Toy Library Effect, she speaks with families, toy library leaders and child development professionals about the power of play, connection and community.
Cassie Doyle
Occupational Therapist
Cassie Doyle is an occupational therapist who works with children and families, with a focus on supporting meaningful participation in everyday life. She explores the importance of children's choice and how toy libraries can give children access to toys that motivate them to communicate, engage and play.
Dr Kate Renshaw
Play & Filial Therapy, APPTA RPT-S™ (Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor™)
Dr Kate Renshaw is a registered play therapist and supervisor who brings a play therapy perspective to supporting children and families. She discusses the benefits of rotating toys, sensory play and creating inclusive environments that celebrate the many different ways children play.
Nicole Pates
Paediatric Physiotherapist, Nicole Kids Physio and Western Kids Health
Nicole Pates is a paediatric physiotherapist with more than 15 years of experience and the founder of Western Kids Health. She shares how borrowing toys can help families experiment with different ways to support movement and skill development at home without the pressure of having to purchase the ‘right’ toy.
Alice Crook
Speech Pathologist and Director, Ocean Grove Speech Pathology
Alice Crook is a speech pathologist at Ocean Grove Speech Pathology who brings both professional and personal experience of toy libraries to the conversation. She explores how access to a variety of toys can help children practise and generalise developing skills across different toys, contexts and environments.
Transcript
Episode 4: Toys: adaptive, inclusive, and surprisingly powerful
Welcome to the Toy Library Effect podcast, brought to you by Toy
Libraries Australia. My name is Penny Johnston, and I am your host for
this series of five episodes. In this series, we're exploring how toy
libraries support children's development, strengthen communities,
and work alongside families and professionals to make play more
accessible.
In this episode, we're exploring how toys open up play possibilities for
children with diverse developmental needs, and how toy libraries
help families discover resources that support learning,
communication, movement, and participation. We'll hear from
occupational therapist Cassie Doyle, speech pathologist Alice Crook,
physiotherapist Nicole Pates, and play therapist Doctor Kate Renshaw
about why toys matter and how play can be adapted to support
every child.
I started by asking Nicole how toys at a toy library can support
therapy informed play at home.
“If we are working on crawling because they're having a really tricky
time crawling and you know, tunnel play is a really fantastic way to
help little ones build that skill, to get down on their hands and knees
and try and move through a tunnel. But like, you don't want to have to
buy a tunnel because you might only use it for a short period of time,
and so the toy library can be really useful to be like, oh, go and try
this, give it a go. If they're not really into it, we can think of other
things. And so, you give them options to try. Parents don't have to feel
so much pressure to get it right or it has to be this way. So, it just
allows a little bit more flexibility in building skills in the home setting
and building that capacity for parents.”
When we choose toys, we might think they're simple one-use objects,
but children show us many more creative possibilities.
“I often say forget about the labels on the box of the toy, right? Toys
will come with an age range. Toys will come with a specific set of
instructions about how to use the toy. And I say that's one way to use
the toy. We can use the toy in a hundred different ways. And we got
one toy that was like an activity stand up table for babies, and it was
like a DJ music table. And so, a toy typically designed to be used for
children's aged 1 to 2, and my children were well outside of that age
range, but they played with it nonstop. They loved it. They were
creating their own little disco parties with their teddies.”
Play therapist Doctor Kate Renshaw says that introducing new toys
can have benefits beyond the toy itself.
“I think the rotating toy idea really allows for fresh and novel things,
and neuroscience tells us that the novel nature of play even having
one thing that's different to say, one rotating toy in the household,
can actually change the way the children play with other things.”
That flexibility is particularly valuable when children are developing
new skills. Here's Alice again.
“When we're building a skill or we're practicing learning something
new. We want to try it out in lots of different contexts or different
environments and with different objects as well. And I think the toy
library gives us that benefit in that we can hire a number of toys that
reached the same goal, but the child's able to try them out in lots of
different ways. That supports skill building and generalisation and
transfer of the skill from one toy to the other.”
Cassie says children themselves often know what motivates them
best.
“Part of the magic of the toy library is that the child can choose what
they want to play with, and they get to take it home. I know that kind
of joy for kids, so even if the toy is not perfect for the child, if they
choose something themselves and it's got that kind of empowerment
of, ‘I picked this and we got to bring it home and how special is that?’
That gives us communication and play opportunities, even if as a
clinician, maybe it's not the perfect toy that doesn't exist.”
Sensory play is another area where toy libraries can introduce
families to resources they may never have considered.
“I think some sensory toys, the “it” toys, aren't they? … a lot of the
fidgets and some of the very expensive sensory toys, they're
wonderful to be able to borrow and they might help in terms of tactile
sensory experiences, but I think toy libraries probably invite a greater
view of sensory toys. I saw different activity packs that you might use
in the garden, so being out in nature, I almost think you'd be spoiled
for choice to go in and go, if I'm looking at this in a sensory way, what
could be used in that way, I think would be a good way for clinicians
to go in and think about it.”
“I think sometimes we go past either the really simple toys or those
really big ones. And so I'm thinking about rockers or spinners and
parents or caregivers would really just go past them because you
think, what could that do? And kids absolutely love them. They like to
sit in them and rock. They like to sit in them and spin. And as an adult,
that just makes my stomach churn. But kids really just love them, or
they tip them upside down and turn them into drums, and they think
of really creative ways to use those toys. I think being really open
minded about some of those sensory items, or some of those really
big items too kids will use them to support their regulation, or they
might use them to wind down at the end of the day.”
For some children, adapted toys can open entirely new opportunities
for participation.
“For children who are not able to move their bodies in the same way,
if they can't use their hands effectively, or they've only got very tiny
movements, or they're not particularly strong in their hands, they can
interact directly with these toys instead of needing help to do it.
Essentially, children with more severe physical disability. Sometimes
there are not many things that they can do independently and by
themselves, and sometimes those children are at really high risk of
becoming passive or watchers and so they learn that I can't do
anything, and so I'll just watch the other kids do this, and it's not worth
my effort to try, because when I try, I just knock the blocks over and
everyone gets upset. And so, these switch adapted toys give these
kids a way to learn to move their body and to guide the interaction,
and it gives them success. So, for some children I've worked with, their
first experience of successful play is bumping a switch. And often I'll
put it there, so they hit it by accident so that we learn it. But we bump
that switch and the thing happens and they just look at their mum.
We've had parents in tears before because it can be really magic to
just see your child, understand that their movement has value and
that we can build on that.”
What we've heard throughout this episode is that inclusive play isn't
about finding the perfect toy. It's about creating opportunities for
children to participate, experiment, learn, and have fun in ways that
works for them.
“I think toy libraries are an amazing resource for parents that may be
worried about developmental vulnerability, or may have children that
have diagnosed delays or disabilities because you can find
developmental resources across all of the ages and stages, and you
can borrow them and support children to spend time working and
playing in different areas of development. And it can feel really
natural.”
“Toy libraries are really modern, accessible, inclusive spaces. Toy
libraries really celebrate play and that it is perfectly okay if your
child's play looks different to other children's play. The toy library is
interested in celebrating that. We know that children use play for a
range of benefits, and yes, we might sometimes use play to support
learning or support development but play also helps children
regulate. It helps them self soothe, and it helps them come back to
themselves at the end of the day as well. So, all children benefit and
they deserve time for unstructured and free play as well.”
Toy libraries are much more than places to borrow toys. They're
places where families can discover new possibilities, build
confidence, and find resources that help every child participate in
play.
To find your nearest toy library, visit the Toy Libraries Australia
website.
"This podcast series was made possible through funding from the
Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Aging.
Thank you for listening."