PlayGroup NYC

PlayGroup NYC We are a group of Special Educators who take a cognitive, play-based approach to scaffold social skill development.

We individualize our curriculum in order to address each child’s specific social concern.

This may seem like a simple DUPLO building, but the children who built it worked hard to add their ideas together while ...
02/07/2026

This may seem like a simple DUPLO building, but the children who built it worked hard to add their ideas together while *gulp* their DUPLO touched another child’s DUPLO! This can be hard and we used a structured activity with clear previewing to help children get here. I wonder what kind of work together build they’ll do next!

Our teachers are getting ready for the winter semester! Happy New Year, we can’t wait to welcome everyone in January!
12/30/2025

Our teachers are getting ready for the winter semester! Happy New Year, we can’t wait to welcome everyone in January!

We learned about children’s likes and dislikes using visuals during the fall semester. This worked on social skills such...
12/27/2025

We learned about children’s likes and dislikes using visuals during the fall semester. This worked on social skills such as: perspective taking, collaboration through connection and self advocacy!

This fall semester we used children’s interest in vehicles to build social skills such as: emotional identification, sel...
12/27/2025

This fall semester we used children’s interest in vehicles to build social skills such as: emotional identification, self advocacy and collaboration!

Each semester we use children’s interests to guide the curriculum. This way, we can customize each social skills class t...
12/27/2025

Each semester we use children’s interests to guide the curriculum. This way, we can customize each social skills class to engage children in what motivates them, while working on tricky social skills such as: negotiation and problem solving. In the winter semester we used children’s interest in dress up to make plays!

Winding down the fall semester and that means clearly explaining the plans to our students. This is a time of year with ...
12/11/2025

Winding down the fall semester and that means clearly explaining the plans to our students. This is a time of year with a lot of changes and shifts in schedules. We use visuals to explain these changes clearly and encourage our older students to ask for clarity around the changes!

Creating Thankful Boxes before the holiday break. We used recycled materials to create boxes filled with stickers, image...
11/30/2025

Creating Thankful Boxes before the holiday break. We used recycled materials to create boxes filled with stickers, images and items to represent things we are thankful for. These boxes were then used to build perspective taking around compromise and problem solving while playing and connecting. Being thankful is a perspective we can work on all year round!

Setting up for an epic dress up, dramatic play! So much problem solving and perspective taking goes into making a play w...
11/14/2025

Setting up for an epic dress up, dramatic play! So much problem solving and perspective taking goes into making a play with peers!

11/13/2025

Sustaining attention to peer topics is easy when we’re engaged in play! You may not know what an OOObie is, but this group does and they keep adding stories to this play!

Getting organized with some characters for a new play! When children enjoy connecting through dramatic play, we connect ...
11/12/2025

Getting organized with some characters for a new play! When children enjoy connecting through dramatic play, we connect with their shared interests. But…we need visuals to get organized!

So much creativity while we build social capacities!
11/05/2025

So much creativity while we build social capacities!

Sometimes you just need a sidekick! While setting up a dramatic play with a group, they decided they needed sidekicks. C...
10/21/2025

Sometimes you just need a sidekick! While setting up a dramatic play with a group, they decided they needed sidekicks. Children initiated their own plans using arts and crafts materials! All of this dress up and sidekicks led to some great collaboration in a dramatic play about Rescuing Planets. You just never know where you’ll go when you follow children’s lead!

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Brooklyn, NY
11215

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PlayGroup Social Skills Groups

Krista Wilbur and Becky Thomas as Special Education Itinerant Teachers who work together to create a fun, child-centered approach to developing social skills and work on mental health. We take a cognitive, play-based approach to scaffold social skill development. We individualize our curriculum in order to address each child’s specific social concern. We use play-based methods, and create child-led activities for our sessions to teach and practice specific social skills. Most importantly, we like to make community building and connection-making fun for all of our students!