It is vital for anyone caring for children to have knowledge of healthy childhood development. Therefore the first part of this chapter is devoted to providing an in-depth examination of play’s role in contributing to children’s healthy physical, cognitive, emotional and social growth and development. The second part of the chapter focuses on the importance of play as the primary form of communication for children, especially for those who have experienced trauma. For traumatized children to be restored to emotional health, they need to be able to communicate their stories and their feelings surrounding the traumatic event. However, they often do not have words to describe what has happened or to express their feelings about the traumatic event. Purposeful play activities are provided that can be used in place of words to help children relate their stories and consequently facilitate their recovery from their deep emotional pain.