A symptom of Stress and Trauma:
DESTRUCTIVE PLAY
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What does "Destructive Play" mean?
- Acting out scary events or playing aggressively with toys. Children use play to understand their experiences. This type of play may be a way to manage anxiety and try to understand their trauma.
In children aged 2-5 years
- Recreating traumatic events in play
- Making toys behave aggressively
- Destroying toys
- Destroying or messing up other people's toys
In children aged 6-10 years
- Less common for older children but can still occur
- Recreating traumatic events in play
- Breaking, throwing, or destroying toys or things they've made
- Making toys behave aggressively
