Newlife launches new range of specialist toys to loan to disabled children for free
Helping families and disabled children play together, Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children has launched a new range of toys called Play Therapy Pods (PTPs) to use for free.
Thanks to a £100,000 donation from the Marian Elizabeth Trust, the disabled children’s charity has invested in 186 new PTPs, taking the overall number of PTPs it has available for families to use to 589.
Newlife’s PTP service has been running for six years and has provided 6,000 loans of pods to children across the UK. Pods are a free loan of specialist toys for 12 weeks at a time, which provide distraction, relaxation, development and enjoyment to enhance the way disabled and terminally ill children play.
Newlife Senior Manager for Care Services Carrick Brown said: “Parents being able to play with their children, either to assist with their development or making memories together, is what we aim for with our Play Therapy Pods and seeing a child smile and communicate through the power of play, is priceless.”
The new range of pods includes Sensory Pods – Adventure Pods in five themes: Space, Animal, Underwater, Transport and Discovery – and Explorer Pods which encourage visual, auditory and tactile stimulation. The Sensory Pods are suitable from birth, the Adventure Pods are suitable from 18 months and the Explorer Pods are suitable from five years.
Each pod can be used by children of any ability and the pods are newly themed so families can group toys together for easier play.
In addition, the new PTPs support communication needs. The Discovery Pods aid with developing communication skills like sign language and drawing, and the Explorer Pods help children apply these skills to interactions in a range of social scenarios.
According to Newlife, playing with specialist toys has allowed families to gain a better understanding of their child’s needs, improving family relationships while identifying opportunities for purposeful development.
Alongside the new PTPs, the charity has also launched a free guide – Powerful Play – to give families tips and ideas on play. It can be downloaded here: https://newlife.support/PowerfulPlay