Play and Social Interaction Strategies
for Young Children With Autism
Spectrum Disorder in Inclusive
Preschool Settings
Amy M. Papacek, PhD
Arizona State University
Zhen Chai, PhD
New Mexico State University
Katherine B. Green, PhD
University of West Georgia
yec
J
ack and Logan attend an
inclusive full-day preschool
program. Their classroom
consists of 12 typically developing
peers, 4 children with special needs,
the classroom teacher, and a
classroom assistant. A special
education teacher and a speech-
language pathologist provide direct
and consultative services within the
classroom each morning for 3 hr.
Jack and Logan receive special
education services in the domains of
social development and
communication. Although both boys
have been identified with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD), their
interactions with peers are very
different. Jack typically participates
in solitary or parallel play. He cries
and becomes agitated when
approached by other children, and
his behavior escalates to include
throwing toys, screaming, or hitting
the other child.
However, Logan has improved
in his interactions with a few
familiar peers without hitting,
throwing toys, or having tantrums;
yet, this skill has not generalized to
other peers or newly introduced
individuals. His speech skills are
emerging and he has begun to
communicate his needs to familiar
individuals. Logan consistently plays
parallel to familiar peers.
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
Ms. Bank, the classroom
teacher, has become concerned that
both Jack’s and Logan’s most
difficult social interaction times
occur during center time. Both boys
have little interaction with their
peers and have difficulty
transitioning from one activity to
another. Ms. Bank called for a team
meeting regarding each boy that
included the parent(s), classroom
assistant, special educator, speech-
language pathologist, and the
school’s behavior specialist. The
goal of the meetings was to discuss
how to effectively promote social
and communication skills for the
boys, particularly during center
time. The team discussed
interventions that ensure the needs
of both boys are being met,
including arranging the classroom
environment, choosing the
appropriate toys to facilitate
interactive play, peer grouping
strategies, and appropriate adult
facilitation to encourage Jack and
Logan’s social engagement during
play.
According to the American
Psychiatric Association (2013), an
impairment in social-emotional
DOI: 10.1177/1096250615576802
http://yec.sagepub.com
© 2015 Division for Early Childhood
1
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
“
ASD is characterized by
social interaction
difficulties, communication
challenges, and a
tendency to engage in
repetitive behaviors.
”
2 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
reciprocity may include
abnormalities in the use of
nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-
eye gaze, facial expression, body
postures, and gestures to regulate
social interchange, or a lack of
interest in showing, bringing, or
pointing out objects of interest to
others. Individuals with ASD may
have deficits in developing,
maintaining, and understanding
relationships; have a restricted range
of interests that may be abnormal or
unconventional; and experience
limited receptive and expressive
communication skills (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013). ASD
is characterized by social interaction
difficulties, communication
challenges, and a tendency to engage
in repetitive behaviors. However,
symptoms and their severity vary
widely across these three core areas.
For example, Logan may want peers
to play with him but can only
communicate this desire through the
use of sounds, such as “vroom,
vroom.” Logan’s development of
play skills and varied interests are
still developing, as his social
involvement with peers is increasing.
Jack still requires more modeling
and guided participation to engage
in play with peers.
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
The purpose of this article is to
define play, discuss why play is
important for children with ASD,
and to describe how arranging a
play environment may be utilized in
inclusive preschool classrooms to
expand play skills and social
interactions of children with ASD.
Arranging the play environment for
children with ASD includes
structuring the physical
environment, choosing appropriate
toys, peer grouping, and adult
assistance (Chandler, Fowler, &
Lubeck, 1992; Mason et al., 2014).
Multiple mini-vignettes about Logan
and Jack’s inclusive preschool
experiences are presented to
demonstrate how these strategies
will assist teachers in facilitating
their appropriate play skills.
There are many different ways
to define play; however, researchers
agree on some commonalities
among all definitions (e.g.,
Ginsburg, 2007; Johnson, Christie,
& Wardle, 2005; Parten, 1933).
Play may be defined as a state of
being in which an individual
experiences increased energy
focusing on an activity, cheerfulness
and joy which is accompanied by
smiles and laughter, feeling an ease
of burden resulting from
nonliterality, renewed sense of
optimism, and the beginning of new
possibilities (Children’s Play
Information Service, 2002; Johnson
et al., 2005). Play also includes an
element of being freely chosen by
the child and personally directed in
a process of trial and error in which
the child learns new activities
(Johnson et al., 2005; Wong &
Kasari, 2012). Play is intrinsically
motivating, flexible, spontaneous,
and voluntary, allowing children to
use their natural environment to
promote learning and socialization
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
(Bergen, 2002; Johnson et al.,
2005). Play does not include
“
performance for any external goal
or reward (Parten, 1933).
Play is a powerful In 1932, Mildred Parten
categorized the stages of children’s
play that continue to provide a
intervention that can standard definition for describing a
child’s developmental progress in
improve social and social play. The stages of play
recognized by Parten and many
language outcomes for current scholars include unoccupied
play, solitary play, onlooker play
children with ASD behavior, parallel play, associative
play, and cooperative play (Parten,
”
1932). According to Parten, as
children become older, improving
their communication skills, and as
opportunities for peer interaction
become more common, the
nonsocial (solitary and parallel)
types of play become less common,
and the social (associative and
cooperative) types of play become
more common. The social aspect of
play begins when the child starts to
notice the play of others (Jordan,
2003). Singer and Singer (2006)
assert that children’s play is central
to their sense of themselves and
their relationship to others. If
schools are the first experience
beyond home and family, then
teachers wield considerable power
for both education and intervention.
Play is a powerful intervention
that can improve social and
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
language outcomes for children with
ASD (Lifter, Ellis, Cannon, &
Anderson, 2005). Lifter et al. (2005)
stated that children with ASD
develop important social skills
precisely through exploring different
forms of play, focusing on pretend
play, playing with objects, and
engaging in socio-dramatic play and
peer play. According to Children’s
Play Information Service (2002),
children may increase physical
development when given
appropriate space and resources to
play. In preschool, many children
improve fine and gross motor skills
such as balance, laterality
(awareness of left and right sides of
their body), spatial orientation, and
muscle coordination of large muscle
groups. When the child masters
these skills, it allows for enhanced
play-based activities and social
competencies.
The experiences in which Jack
and Logan participate provide
insight into play patterns among
children with ASD. For example,
Jack does not show the ability to
role-play with action figures, but he
spends hours exploring them by
moving their joints, checking
whether they can balance on their
own, breaking them apart, and
putting them back together. His
engagement with the action figures
may not appear to be “play,” but he
is engaged in an element of freely
chosen, intrinsically motivated
exploration of these toys. Logan will
follow a peer’s lead and mimic the
peer; however, he does not
demonstrate independent abilities to
exhibit role-play skills. Some peers
are able to “become” part of the toy
and take on the characteristics
associated with this mediating
artifact. Even though Logan is
emerging with this skill as he
3
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
4 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
demonstrates the ability to imitate
basic movements, Jack does not
possess this skill. In spite of Logan’s
emerging skills, their differences in
their play require strategies that
involve the need to be coaxed,
guided, or taught by others to
engage in play activities.
The play environment has an
impact on the social interactions of
children (Vandenberg, 1981; Wong
& Kasari, 2012). For example,
inclusive settings may be a more
effective play environment for a
child to develop social interactions
compared with separate or self-
contained settings. Although most
5-year-olds understand that other
people have different thoughts,
feelings, and goals than they have, a
child with ASD may lack such
understanding. Thus, it can interfere
with the ability to predict or
understand another person’s actions.
As utilizing the least intrusive peer
interaction intervention is suggested
by researchers (e.g., Brown, Odom,
& Conroy, 2001), appropriately
arranging the play environment is a
nonintrusive and relatively easy
approach to facilitate social
interactions among children
(Chandler et al., 1992; O’Gorman
Hughes & Carter, 2002). Four
aspects of the play environment
closely related to the amount and
nature of social interactions of
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
children include arranging the
physical environment, the
availability of toys, peer grouping,
and adult facilitation (Chandler
et al., 1992; Wong & Kasari, 2012).
These foundational aspects, though
seemingly basic for seasoned
teachers of children with disabilities,
have research-based effectiveness
when setting up any classroom that
consists of young children with ASD
to improve social interactive skills.
Arranging the Physical
Classroom Environment
In general, children identified
with disabilities will have more
interactions with peers when toys
are limited and well chosen, when
children with disabilities are
grouped with peers who
demonstrate appropriate social
skills, when there is minimal adult–
child interaction, when play and
joint attention are the target
behaviors, and when the play area is
relatively small (IN, 2014; Wong,
2013). Piaget (1962) asserted that
play has a central role in a child’s
early identity development as the
child increases his or her knowledge
of social rules and norms within
relationships. According to Piaget’s
theory, children’s intellectual growth
is partly affected by physical
development and partly due to
interactions with the surrounding
environment. He believed that
children must be equipped with the
tools and mediating instruments to
think, communicate, and understand
what is happening around them if
they are going to be able to interact
with individuals in their surrounding
environments. When peers assist
other children in learning through
participation of social interaction
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.

Table 1
Summary of Strategies

Descriptions Examples
Choose Play contributes to the broadest range of skills and interests; Cause and effect (race track with cars), pretend play (baby,
appropriate toys a broad range of play opportunities with peers and clothes, and crib), creativity (kitchen and food), active
appropriate toys should be encouraged. Social toys would (balls, bikes), cooperative (board games, building things
create more social interactions increasing relationships such as Legos), manipulative (coloring, beading)
and communication skills. Children will play longer when
allowed to choose their playthings/toys.
Child grouping Using peers to help children with ASD engage in appropriate Minimally intrusive method of encouraging engagement in a
social interactions. Choosing a peer may be based on the play involves placing children who possess a lesser
peer’s level of tolerance, empathy, and his or her amount of developed social skills alongside or near
preference of activities. children with greater social skills during small and large
group activities.
Adult facilitation To encourage play and interaction between peers and Give positive nonverbal (high fives and smiles) and verbal
children with ASD, teachers should set interactive (“You are playing so nicely together”) reinforcers when
activities, assist with communication, and arrange play children are engaged appropriately in social interactions.
activities, so that all children’s participation is essential Model appropriate communication and give gestural
and assists in the facilitation of when activities begin and prompts.
end.
Social stories The social story described how someone would choose a
toy, how to request a friend to play, and/or how to share
toys. Social stories can include computer-generated icon
pictures or “real” pictures that include the children the
story is targeting. The latter is a preferred method to
ensure children assimilate themselves into the situation.

Note. ASD = autism spectrum disorder.

and play activities, each child’s
individual development is enhanced
and enriched (Table 1).
At their team meeting, Ms.
Bank, the parent, teacher assistant,
special educator, speech pathologist,
and behavior specialist discussed
Logan’s current levels of progress.
As parents are an integral part of a
child’s education team, Ms. Bank
specifically asked Logan’s mother
about his social and communication
skills at home. Logan’s mother, a
young, single parent of two children,
was pleased with Logan’s increased
communication skills since the
beginning of the school year.
However, she still had concerns that
Logan did not interact,
communicate, or play with less
familiar family members and
friends. She also expressed concern
that Logan played “differently”
than the other neighborhood
children. The special education
teacher and speech-language
pathologist added that they have
also observed an increase in
communication and interactive skills
with preferred peers, but he
continues to engage in parallel play
and infrequent interactions with
unfamiliar peers. The team decided
that as they discussed solutions to
support Logan’s communication
and social skills in the classroom,
they would also address strategies
appropriate for the home
environment. The team committed
to meet on a regular basis to discuss
current progress and address
necessary changes.

Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 5

 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
The team first assessed the
classroom environment. They
recognized some key areas to be
rearranged. For example, they
noticed that if they decreased the
number of centers available from
eight to five at free play, interactions
between children increased, as well
as focus and engagement with the
play activities. Furthermore, they
provided boundaries to the centers,
so that the children understood the
actual space in which the center play
“
should occur. They made the play
areas only large enough as required
Early childhood to fit four children and the toys, so
children would not be too far apart
classrooms should include when they played. The team
determined that they needed to
both social and isolate assess the students’ preferred toys
and activities to naturally improve
social and communication skills
toys to create within the classroom. After assessing
the classroom environment, the
opportunities for social team determined that many of these
strategies can be implemented for
interactions and child the home environment, though
adapted for fewer children. Home
development. strategies included structured play
dates with neighborhood children or
family members with preferred toys
placed close together, and having no
”
more than three activities out to
encourage interactions between
children.
Through consultation with
parents, daily observation, and
anecdotal records, Ms. Bank and the
behavior specialist discovered that
Logan’s favorite toys were trains
and cars. As discussed in the last
team meeting, Ms. Bank put some
toys that Logan preferred to play
within the center and decreased the
number of toys in the center to
increase the possibility of
communicating, sharing, and turn-
taking during play. For example, the
math center was typically filled with
different manipulatives that did not
6 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
hold Logan’s interest. Ms. Bank
rearranged it by adding some cars to
increase the chance that Logan
would choose the math center, and
improve early numeracy skills such
as counting and patterning (e.g., red
car, red car, blue car, red car, red
car, blue car), while improving
social interactive skills by playing
with peers. Prior to center time,
Ms. Bank selected two children with
advanced social skills and asked
Logan to choose a friend from the
two to play with during center time.
After Logan chose a friend, Ms.
Bank asked the children to decide
which center they would like to
attend. Once they chose their peers
and center, Ms. Bank discussed the
rules and expectations, and then
supervised from a distance.
Choose Appropriate
Toys to Facilitate Play
All children respond differently
to toys available to them at any
particular time. Children may like to
have conversations with their peers
while playing with certain toys,
while other toys lend themselves to
play in isolation (IN, 2014). The
tendency to engage in a restricted
range of activities can be seen in the
way that many children with ASD
play with toys (IN, 2014; Wong &
Kasari, 2012). For example, some
children spend hours lining up toys
in a specific way instead of using
them for pretend play.
Social toys promote
opportunities for interactions with
others, and isolate toys are usually
used individually (Elmore & Vail,
2011; see Table 2). Early childhood
classrooms should include both
social and isolate toys to create
opportunities for social interactions
and child development. Regarding
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.

Table 2
Categorization of Social and Isolate Toys and Materials

Class of toy Examples Supporting references

Social toys
  Dress-up clothes Bags, dresses, hats, glasses, shoes Martin, Brady, and Williams (1991)
  Home corner materials Cooking utensils, plastic food Martin et al. (1991)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
  Role-play materials, puppet theater Fire truck, police truck, puppets Martin et al. (1991)
Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
  Dolls’ house Dolls’ furniture Kallam, Rettig, and McCarthy-Salm (1993)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
  Toy vehicles Cars, trucks, helicopters, car mat Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Martin et al. (1991)
Kallam et al. (1993)
  Construction materials Building blocks, waffle blocks, wooden blocks Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
Kallam et al. (1993)
  Dolls and dolls’ clothes Doll, diapers, shirts, pants Cowden and Torrey (1990)
Kallam et al. (1993)
Isolate toys
 Puzzles 16-piece inset puzzle, big floor puzzles Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
Martin et al. (1991)
Kallam et al. (1993)
 Pegboards Regular pegboards Martin et al. (1991)
  Art materials Paper, pens, crayons, nature materials, collage materials Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Cowden and Torrey (1990)
Martin et al. (1991)
Kallam et al. (1993)
  Picture books ABC with animals, numbers with objects Beckman and Kohl (1984)
Martin et al. (1991)
Kallam et al. (1993)
  Toy animals Plastic farm and jungle animals Cowden and Torrey (1990)
Source: Adopted from O’Gorman Hughes and Carter (2002).

play activities of young children interactions when children were

with disabilities, researchers suggest
that social toys would create more
social interactions than isolate toys
(Elmore & Vail, 2011; Glassy &
Romano, 2003; Ivory & McCollum,
1999; Martin, Brady, & Williams,
1991). However, researchers have
found that both social and isolate
toys can promote social interactions.
For example, O’Gorman Hughes
and Carter (2002) did not find any
significant differences in social
playing with either type of toy.
Elmore and Vail (2011) found that
children had more verbal
interactions when provided with
opportunities to play with both
isolate and social toys rather than
social toys alone. Thus, either
isolate or social toys can be used to
increase social interactions
(O’Gorman Hughes & Carter,
2002). For example, puzzles are
categorized as an isolate toy;

Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 7

 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
“
Creating interactive
activities with a more
socially competent peer
allows teachers to provide
structured play
opportunities for children
with ASD to improve their
social interaction skills
within the classroom
environment.
”
“
The teacher may utilize
visual supports such as
picture/word cards that
say “Can I play?” or “my
turn,” and coach all
children in the classroom
to use visual supports to
communicate
”
8 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
however, if two children take turns
to finish a puzzle and talk about
what shape or what animal the
puzzle created, the puzzle becomes a
social toy. However, if teachers
provide young children with ASD
with appropriate toys, without
guided participation and modeling
strategies, social interactions still
will not likely occur. Therefore,
additional techniques such as
prompting and modeling may
continue to be needed to ensure
successful interaction and
engagement.
After the team meeting,
Ms. Bank observed Jack and Logan in
unassisted free play. She found that
Jack did not seem to be interested in
playing with peers even though he
may like the same toys. For example,
Jack was sitting on the carpet playing
with the building blocks, but he
became agitated and ran away when a
peer approached the area. Logan’s
interactions were typically limited to
engaging with preferred peers for 5
min of play at a time. Both boys
became agitated when free play was
over and they were asked by the
teacher to cease their activities. Based
on Ms. Bank’s observation, both boys
chose to play with the blocks, cars,
and the kitchen area. Ms. Bank
decided to use these centers as a
catalyst to promote social interaction
with their typically developing peers.
At the beginning of center time, Ms.
Bank gave Jack two center choices
(making sure at least one was a
preferred activity) and provided the
opportunity for Jack to make the
choice which center he would like to
play.
Child Grouping
Now that Ms. Bank has chosen
appropriate toys and activities (i.e.,
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
blocks, cars, trains, and kitchen
center) for Jack and Logan, she
must consider which peers to group
with Jack and Logan to increase
their social interactions. Using peers
to help children with ASD engage in
appropriate social interactions is a
strategy well researched within early
childhood (e.g., Harrower &
Dunlap, 2001; Kohler, Strain,
Hoyson, & Jamieson, 1997;
Petursdottir, McComas, &
McMaster, 2007; Wong, 2013).
Creating interactive activities with a
more socially competent peer allows
teachers to provide structured play
opportunities for children with ASD
to improve their social interaction
skills within the classroom
environment. Teachers should utilize
a technique of “priming” or
prepractice before beginning new
peer groupings, classroom activities,
or changes in the child’s
environment. Priming has been
documented as an effective
classroom intervention for children
with ASD (Harrower & Dunlap,
2001). Priming consists of reviewing
information prior to the child
actually engaging with peers or in a
classroom activity. This intervention
will increase the likelihood of
successful social interactions
between appropriate child
groupings. Strategically grouping
peers may be termed as peer-assisted
strategies (Chandler, 1998),
environmental arrangements (Mason
et al., 2014; Odom et al., 1999), or
social integration activities (Brown
et al., 2001).
Choosing a peer may be based
on the peer’s level of tolerance,
empathy, and his or her preference
of activities (Hobson, Hobson,
Malik, Bargiota, & Calo, 2013). For
example, Ms. Bank chose peers who
enjoyed playing with blocks, cars, or
kitchen sets, as well as children who
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
would not get upset if the activity
was modified or if Jack or Logan
threw a toy. Teachers should be
careful not to simply place peers
within an activity context with
children with ASD and expect for
“
improvements in social interactions
without adult facilitation during
In these social interactive instructional periods. Peers may
require facilitation to initiate social
activities, the teacher’s interaction and to participate within
the activity. Teachers should expect
role in play may be one of that successfully grouping children
may take several trials (Mundschenk
& Sasso, 1995). Another factor that
facilitation. needs to be considered is the verbal
”
abilities of the child with ASD. The
teacher may utilize visual supports
such as picture/word cards that say
“Can I play?” or “my turn,” and
coach all children in the classroom
to use visual supports to
communicate (Johnston, Nelson,
Evans, & Palazolo, 2003).
After the team discussed the
importance of peer grouping,
Ms. Bank and the behavior specialist
began observing which activities all
the children appeared to prefer and
how the children played together.
They chose two peers for Logan and
two peers for Jack who (a) enjoyed
playing similar activities as Logan
and Jack, (b) attempted to interact
with Logan or Jack during play, and
(c) were tolerant of changes,
adaptations, and interruptions in
play. They grouped Logan with Mia
and Jose, and Jack with Henry and
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
Keeya. It was important to find at
least two peers to group with Jack
and Logan, in case a peer was
absent or uninterested in playing the
activities that day.
Adult Facilitation
In these social interactive
activities, the teacher’s role in play
may be one of facilitation. Without
adult facilitation, children with ASD
may be apt to play alone, isolating
themselves from peers and social
activities (Koegel, Werner, Vismara,
& Koegel, 2005). By knowing the
kind of play that children with ASD
prefer, teachers can encourage play
and interaction between peers and
children with ASD, teachers should
set interactive activities, assist with
communication, and arrange play
activities, so that all children’s
participation is essential (Wong,
2013). In an examination of play
groups between typically developing
peers and children with ASD, Koegel
et al. (2005) found that utilizing
mutually reinforcing activities, as
well as adult facilitation of
cooperative environments, had
positive effects on the participants’
reciprocal social interaction. In
addition, teachers may need to
facilitate communication and
arrange play because all children’s
participation is essential. Children
with ASD tend to avoid an activity
that requires pretending or
imagining oneself in place of
another (Doody & Mertz, 2013).
For example, in the vignette below
Ms. Bank has the kitchen center set
up for free play, as she noted that
this is a preferred play area for
Logan and Mia. She also brought
over a baby doll and helped Mia
include Logan in the decisions for
what to feed the baby and provided
9
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
prompts when needed. This play
activity was reinforced by mutual
interest in the kitchen set,
interactions with each other, as well
as interactions and feedback from
the teacher.
Teachers also may need to assist
in the facilitation of when activities
begin and end for children with
ASD, as some children with ASD
have difficulties putting away and
leaving favorite toys or centers. A
strategy teachers may use is a
warning system to prepare children
with ASD in advance when an
activity will end or change. A
warning system strategy can be used
in conjunction with social stories
(Sansosti, Powell-Smith, & Kincaid,
2004) or edited video clips to teach
children with ASD what will be
expected in the coming play activity
(MacDonald, Clark, Garrigan, &
Vangala, 2005; Nikopoulos &
Keenana, 2004).
10 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
The behavior specialist
consulted with Ms. Bank on
appropriate social stories and adult
facilitation. As the children are most
familiar with Ms. Bank, and she was
the constant teacher in the
classroom, it was important that
Ms. Bank read the social story and
facilitated all play activities. During
circle time, Ms. Bank read a social
story to the group. The social story
described how someone would
choose a toy, how to request a
friend to play, and how to share
toys. She then gave all the students a
warning: “Soon we will move to
centers, and you will have thirty
minutes of play time.” When circle
time finished, Ms. Bank asked each
student to choose a center he or she
wanted to play. Logan chose to go
to the pretend play center,
particularly to the kitchen set.
Mia was already playing with
the kitchen set. She was constructing
a tea party with a variety of foods
and dishes. Although they both were
playing with the kitchen set, they
did not interact with each other.
Ms. Bank saw that Mia and Logan
were not interacting, so she moved
to the center with a baby doll in her
hands and said, “The baby is
hungry. She wants to have dinner.
Can you two make dinner for her?”
Mia immediately said, “Yes!” Logan
looked at Ms. Bank and hesitantly
nodded his head. Mia started to
cook and said, “I want to make
chicken salad and pumpkin soup.”
“That is a good idea. But you need
to ask Logan to see if he likes it. He
may want to cook something else.”
Ms. Bank said, “Logan, what do
you like for dinner?” Mia asked.
Logan did not respond to her
question. Ms. Bank saw he had
broccoli in his hand, so she asked,
“Logan, you are holding broccoli.
Do you want to make broccoli
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
soup?” Logan nodded. “Then tell
Mia broccoli soup.” Logan said
quietly “broc sou,” while he was
looking at the broccoli in his hand.
“OK” Mia said, “The baby is so
hungry. You give her some milk.”
“
Play behaviors are the
Logan went to find the milk. At
first, he got a plastic chicken. Mia
saw it and said, “No, that is not
milk. It’s chicken.” Logan then
fundamental basis for dropped the chicken and picked up
a slice of bacon. “No, that’s bacon,”
social skills development, said Mia. “Here is the milk. Feed
the baby.” Logan did not know
language development, how to feed the baby, so he stood
with the milk in his hand. “Let me
show you how to feed her,” said
and communication Mia. Logan followed Mia’s direction
and started to pat the baby. The
abilities teacher quietly visited another center
while Mia began to lead the play.
” With 3 min left in center time,
Ms. Bank gave the students a 3-min
warning until clean-up time.
In this example, Ms. Bank used
a warning system and a social story
to let the children know what would
happen next and the expected
behaviors. To naturally reinforce
“
target behaviors, teachers should
look for naturally occurring
opportunities. When Ms. Bank saw
Furthermore, naturalistic Logan and Mia playing in the same
center, she recognized that it would
teaching, such as teaching be a great opportunity to naturally
reinforce interactions between
social interaction skills Logan and Mia. Ms. Bank guided
and prompted the children to
during play, has been continue taking turns when
necessary. Even though it may
successful when teaching appear that Mia is dominating the
play experience, the interaction
provides Logan with an example of
young children with play imitating real-life activities.
Each time Logan and Mia
ASD participate in this activity in the
future, Ms. Bank will promote
” Logan’s increased control of the
situation. For Mia, this type of
guided participation will promote
Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
increased social skills with
cooperation with others, modeling
actions, and tolerance of situations
she does not control.
Final Notes
Play behaviors are the
fundamental basis for social skills
development, language development,
and communication abilities (Lee,
Odom, & Loftin, 2007). As a child’s
knowledge and understanding of a
play activity expand, the child
transforms his or her approach to
social situations and decision
making.
No one instructional strategy
will be successful for all children
with ASD, though play activities
assist children to learn through
exploration and imitation leading to
increased developmental skills
(Lifter et al., 2005). Despite the fact
that many children with ASD have
unique patterns of development,
educators can utilize their strengths
to support learning in areas of
difficulty (Lord & McGee, 2001).
As every experience a child has may
contribute to the development of his
or her brain, children with ASD
need to be given ample opportunity
to participate in social and academic
activities.
Furthermore, naturalistic
teaching, such as teaching social
interaction skills during play, has
been successful when teaching
young children with ASD (Wong &
Kasari, 2012). For example, a
teacher may find an opportunity to
teach turn-taking to a child while
rolling a ball back and forth. Before
the teacher rolls the ball toward the
child, the teacher can say, “my
turn,” and when the child catches
the ball the teacher can say, “your
turn.” If the child imitates the
11
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.
teacher with any type of
verbalization, the teacher responds
positively and uses the word in a
statement such as “yes, it is your
turn” or something similar using the
phrase your/my turn.
As recommended by the Division
for Early Childhood of the Council
for Exceptional Children, naturalistic
teaching strategies are an important
component of early childhood
education (Sandall, Hemmeter,
Smith, & McLean, 2005). They are
appropriate for children with and
without disabilities or developmental
delays. In promoting play activities,
children with ASD are not only
learning social interaction skills but
are also improving their
communication skills with a new set
of vocabulary words. Play has been
documented as a valuable resource to
improve children’s language abilities.
Play is a way for children to
interact with the world around
them. This occurs through a
combination of experiences and
interactions that are supported by
people, toys, and places in their life.
Jordan and Libby (1997) indicated
that play interests in children with
ASD are typically dominated by
sensory and physical play, though
play activities should be looked at as
a tool for developing social
interactions. Although there are
many types of interventions and
strategies to increase social
interaction and play activities for
young children with ASD and other
developmental delays, only four
Authors’ Note
You may reach Amy M. Papacek by e-mail at amypapacek@gmail.com.
12 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN Vol. XX, No. X, Month XXXX
strategies were highlighted to
provide more detailed information
about each. Even though the above
strategies are demonstrated using
young children with ASD, they can
be utilized and tailored for children
with or without ASD with all levels
of basic play and communication
skills. The results of a meta-analysis
conducted by Lieberman and Yoder
(2012) have demonstrated the
positive relationships between play
and communication in young
children with ASD.
Early intervention has been
documented as critical to children
diagnosed with ASD. Many studies
have found that the earlier children
with ASD receive intervention
services for communication, the
greater gains in daily social
interaction skills (Baron-Cohen,
2003; Landa & Goldberg, 2005).
Play can be a tool to bridge social
and communication skills between
typically developing children and
children with ASD, especially in an
inclusive classroom. When a child
engages in play activities with
another child, he or she becomes
involved in activities that may
expand his or her range of
emotions and improve both social
and communication skills
(Wolfberg, 2009). By considering
play as a possible intervention to
improve social and communication
skills in children with ASD, it
may be possible to recognize the
great value this tool has on their
lives.
 Play and Social Interaction Strategies for Children With ASD / Papacek et al.

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