Play Therapy Dollhouse Project Example for Play Therapist to See

by Play Therapy Student

When I first heard about having to build a play therapy dollhouse, I was a little confused. I just wasn’t sure what the play therapy dollhouse would be used for. I thought we were making a dollhouse for fun. Since it was the final project, I knew it had to have more meaning and usage. While in play therapy, I learned that all of the things that we have created are “tools” for therapy. I like that all of our projects are tangible and children are very visual.

I really didn’t know how to construct a dollhouse and I had no idea of what materials I would be using. I was thinking that I would have to spend a lot of money but I didn’t. Dr S. taught me that I didn’t have to spend a lot of money to make things, so I started with the things I had around the house.
My play therapy dollhouse was made from a cardboard box. I order shoes from Zappos.com all the time, so I have several boxes in my garage to be thrown away. We had hardwood floors in our house, so I to had to find a way to make hardwood floors. I went online and Googled hardwood floor patterns and printed it on photo paper. The photo paper makes it a little shiny, so it really looks like hardwood floors.

I also printed out brick and roof shingle patterns from online as well. The only thing I bought was the furniture for the dollhouse. I bought it from Toys R Us. For my family, I used miniatures that I purchased earlier this semester.
I started constructing the play therapy dollhouse about two days prior to due date. Once I got all my materials together, it didn’t take long for it to come together. I really wanted to build a big fabulous dollhouse but I think mine did the job. As a creative counselor, it’s about making it work with what you have. I will always remember that.
The play therapy process in class was very interesting. I was lucky enough to be partnered with two other classmates. They were very attentive and seemed to pick up on different aspects of my home life. Overall, I had a good childhood. Both of my parents are together, I was never abused but there were issues. The dollhouse immediately led me to a certain issue that I have never really discussed with my family. It really brought me back to that moment. As the therapist, I felt the use of the dollhouse just made the process a lot more comfortable. It can be uncomfortable for some people to sit across from someone in a therapy session but my classmates seemed very comfortable and “playful” with the dollhouse.
In the future, I would love to use the play therapy dollhouse tool. I think it would be very helpful for clients that may have experience trauma in a home or a divorce. Its something about the dollhouse that is playful but still therapeutic. The visual of the play therapy dollhouse helps to guide the clients and I think the session would be very different without it. Overall, I would definitely use the dollhouse and many of the other techniques we’ve learned in this class. This experience has been very enlightening and will hopefully enhance my practice in the future. Thanks Dr S!


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