Child Centered Play Therapy International

Child-Centered Play Therapy-International is committed to embedding the principles of diversity and inclusion into all aspects of the organization, with a focus on play therapy research, training, and clinical practices. We aim to uphold cultural humility and competencies through a Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) lens by creating and distributing CCPT materials that promote a place of belonging for all children, initiating global partnerships, and providing a community that prizes inclusion. Across our website, we hope to offer resources that help CCPT therapists grow in their multicultural orientation toward serving children.

We are proud to share a listing of toys and materials to transform your play therapy room into a welcoming environment for cultural inclusivity. Our team embarked on a journey to review and modify the Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) room for the purpose of providing CCPT in a consistently theoretical manner that emphasizes the unconditional acceptance and prizing of each child in play therapy. We encourage you to embark on your own journey with us by reviewing the process across several documents including Ray et al. (2022), Chung et al. (2023), and Turner (2024). We began by surveying an expert and diverse panel of CCPT therapists who reviewed Landreth’s (2024) list of recommended toys and materials for their perspectives on what materials send messages of inclusivity and belonging. We then moved to identifying materials to supplement the play therapy room, and finally, to testing if a multiculturally designed play therapy room enhanced children’s expressions of cultural play, thoughts, and feelings. SPOILER ALERT! It did!

We are now happy to present a listing of toys and materials that are consistent with CCPT philosophy and Landreth’s recommendations for the play therapy room, plus add to providing a safe and expressive therapeutic space for cultural exploration. In the listing we provide, we have attempted to be theoretically-consistent by organizing toys and materials according to Landreth’s (2023) categories of Real-Life, Aggressive-Release, and Creative Expression.

We also provide a listing of contact information to locate the materials. Although you will notice that there is a heavy reliance on Amazon for many materials, we highly recommend supporting local and small businesses to find the materials. The Amazon links provide a visual picture of the materials to help you identify them clearly. You will notice that the listing is very complete and thorough. We wanted to provide play therapists with as much information as possible. However, for most play therapists, you may want to pare down materials for space and financial reasons. We suggest you look through the categories and make sure you are representing each category thoroughly but do not feel that it is necessary to acquire all of the materials on the list.

Additionally, we would like to recognize that entering into such a complex project means that there are many issues of nuance, discussion, and possible controversy. We did our best to use research and practice to inform the choices on the Multicultural Play Therapy Room Materials List. We hope the list sparks discussion on rationale and use of each material and toy selected for the play therapy room. We offer this list with the knowledge that we are unable to capture all of the complexities of multiculturalism and inclusion. We will continue to revise the list based on feedback and research. We just keep trying to move toward the goal of offering a safe space of understanding for all children we serve.

Special Acknowledgement to support and funding from Center for Play Therapy/University of North Texas, Homeyer Research Grant/Texas Association for Play Therapy, and National Board for Certified Counselors

Chung, R. K., Ray, D. C., Aguilar, E. V., & Turner, K. K. (2023). The multicultural play therapy room: Intentional decision making in selecting play therapy toys and materials. International Journal of Play Therapy, 32(4), 197–207. doi 10.1037/pla0000203

Landreth, G. (2024). Play therapy: The art of the relationship (4th ed.). Routledge.

Ray, D., Chung, R., Turner, K., & Aguilar, E. (2022). The multicultural playroom: A Delphi study. In D. Ray, Y. Ogawa, & Y. Cheng (Eds.), Multicultural play therapy: Making the most of cultural opportunities. Routledge.

Turner, K. (2024). Multiculturally and historically designed Child-Centered Play Therapy Rooms: A comparison study, [Doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas].