Occupational therapy behavior in pediatrics. A play skills inventory: a competency monitoring tool for the 10 year...

The importance of play has been identified as the arena for learning childhood skills needed for work, recreational, and social roles of later life. A conceptual model of competency representing three developmental sequences guided the identification of certain critical skills and behaviors required for competent role performance during middle childhood and for readiness to move into adolescence. The model also established the rationale for construction of a gross monitoring tool to assess the presence or absence of these identified skills. A variety of play situations were selected, constructed, and adapted to formulate an assessment instrument. The Play Skills Inventory has been useful to some occupational therapists in their observations and identification of the child's strengths and weaknesses in varied developmental areas. The Inventory was presented and instances of its use were shared through two case illustrations.