Play-Based Assessment: Using Play to Assess Regulation and Learning Readiness

Standardized testing often falls short for young children who are highly dysregulated or significantly struggle with attention. Play-based assessment provides a developmentally appropriate solution, allowing clinicians to directly interact with children in semi-structured play to evaluate frustration tolerance, task transitions, emotional regulation, and emerging problem-solving skills. Drawing on models such as Toni Linder’s TPBA2, this approach emphasizes what children can do, while linking assessment directly to intervention. Participants will learn how play-based assessment captures strengths and challenges in ways that traditional testing may miss, and how these findings can translate into practical, classroom-ready strategies that support early learning and regulation.