Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

University of Manitoba

Code:

NCT06319430

Conditions

Disability Physical

Disabilities Mental

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 3 - 9

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

robots

conventional

Study Details

Brief summary:

Play is an important activity for children. Almost all children play, but what is play? It is not easy to define play. In the past, people believed that children played to burn their energy. Now, it is known that play is important for children's growth. Some kids with disabilities cannot play. Many experts use play to teach children specific skills. People often forget that play is a child's right. It is important to help all children play. The first step is to define play and find what features are important in helping a child with a disability play.

There are some models of play. But they are not complete. They do not look at play as a whole. Some models are just about playfulness, and some are about playing with others. Having a model that defines play helps researchers and clinicians think about play and the different parts of it. Then, when a child cannot play, experts can fix the part that is not working. Investigators want to introduce a model of play in this project. Investigators want to edit and complete it in three steps. First, Investigators will ask parents and children with disabilities about things that help or do not help them play; then, investigators will give Lego robots to children that they will build with help and play with them for a few weeks. And at the end, investigators will ask therapists and other experts about our model of play. This model will be edited during the study.

Conditions

Disability Physical

Disabilities Mental

Study ID

NCT06319430

Start date

Feb 6, 2025

Status verified date

Oct, 2025

Completion date

May 28, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr 30, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 3 - 9

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having a disability or typically developed
  • Between 3 to 9 years old
  • Speaking and understanding English or Persian
  • Living in Winnipeg

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not receiving play therapy within the last three months

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: robots

Participants will be randomly allocated to groups A or B. Those in group A will co-design and build their LEGO™ robot, using the researcher's assistance, as led by the child. A go-along interview will be conducted during the co-design with the child . The co-design session will be video recorded to provide context, visual data, and to inform the qualitative analysis. Videos will be deleted right after analysis. A research assistant (RA) will visit the participant's home twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes (after school or on the weekend) to play with the child and their built LEGO™ robots for four weeks (4 sessions total).

experimental: conventional toys

Group B will engage in the same process of 4 play intervention sessions over four weeks with the research assistant; however, they will receive conventional play tools. The RA will carry a prepared play pack for the play intervention session.

Interventions

robots

LEGO robots with adaptation according to child's age and developmental skills.

conventional

A pack of conventional play tools consists of dolls, teddy bears, miniature wild animals, and small cars. All are available, and the child can choose to play with them.

Primary outcome measure

  • Test of Playfulness [ Time Frame: before the session 1, after session 8, after session 16, each time 10 to 20 minutes. ]
  • The Child Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA-2) [ Time Frame: before the session 1, after session 8, after session 16, each time 18 minutes for 3 years old children and 30 minutes for 4-8 years old children. ]
  • The Pretend Play Enjoyment-Developmental Checklist (PPE-DC) [ Time Frame: before the session 1, after session 8, after session 16, each time almost 10 minutes for parents and 10 minutes for researcher. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

Rehabilitation Centre for Children

Recruiting

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 3G1

More Information

Sponsor

University of Manitoba

Last update posted

May 5, 2026

Last verified

Oct, 2025

Keywords

  • play and playthings
  • Assistive technology
  • Pediatric ALL

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Manitoba on 2026-05-05.