If there's one thing children all over the world have in common, it's play. It is a child's first language and, often, her first way of making sense of the world around her. "Play is the child's natural medium of communication," says Dr. Garry Landreth, founder of the University of North Texas' Center for Play Therapy. "It is a complete way children can communicate their emotional, physical, mental and social well-being. Children use play to express their desires and their apprehensions."

So how can playful activity help a child learn more about bedwetting?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the main reasons children wet the bed at night include having a bladder that has not developed enough to hold urine for a full night and not yet being able to realize that the bladder is full so they can wake up and use the toilet. That said, a child's bedwetting often stops as a child's body grows and matures. The AAP reports that by the teen years, most kids will have stopped bedwetting, and only one in 100 adults experiences bedwetting.

According to Dr. Landreth, if parents sit down with their children for 30 minutes of safe and accepting play, they can learn much about how their children feel about bedwetting. Plus, talking with your child about wetting can help her feel better about it and herself, boosting self-esteem and confidence.

Here are some fun activities you and your child can do together to learn more about and help manage your child's bedwetting:

Sometimes children are afraid to get up to use the bathroom at night because they are afraid of the dark. Your child can help decorate this flashlight and use it when she gets up at night.

• A child-safe flashlight
• Glue
• Glitter
• Markers or paint pens
• Ribbons
• Stickers

If you don't already have an extra one in the house, shopping for a flashlight can be a fun start to this activity. Make sure it is safe for children (look at the packaging to verify the age it is intended for). Next, gather all your materials together. Decorate the flashlight with glitter, ribbons and stickers. You or your child can write your child's name on it with a paint pen so it will be his own special flashlight. Remember not to get glue on the on/off button! Then place the flashlight in its own special place next to your child's bed.

Some parents find it helpful to wake their child up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If your child is old enough to wake himself up, this alarm clock may be right for him!

• A child-safe flashlight
• Glue
• Glitter
• Markers or paint pens
• Ribbons
• Stickers

Find a child safe alarm clock. Let your child pick the color, but make sure it's plain so there is plenty of room for personal decorating! Tell your child this is his very own alarm clock for helping to wake him up at night to go to the bathroom.

Gather all the materials in one place. Let your child's imagination go wild as she decorates the alarm clock. Write your child's name on it with a paint pen and voila! He now has his own personal wake-up tool. During this time you might also want to show the child how to set the clock, if your child is old enough to do so.

Making this book is a good way to teach your child about bedwetting and find out how your child feels about it.

• Construction Paper
• A child-safe flashlight
• Glue
• Glitter
• Markers or paint pens
• Ribbons
• Stickers
• Bits of Fabric
• A three-hole punch or stapler for binding the book

Help your child draw a bed on the first page of the book, and then let your child draw and decorate the rest of the story. Ask leading questions such as: How does it feel to wake up in a wet bed? How do you think it feels when you wake up in a dry bed? Are you tired when Mommy or Daddy wakes you up to go to the bathroom?

Let your child draw out how he feels and write accompanying text, and have him end the book the way he likes. Bind the book either by stapling it together or using a three-hole punch and tying the book together with ribbon.

Illustrating how the bladder works is educational and artistic and may help your child understand bedwetting a little better.

• A simple anatomy book showing the bladder, urethra and its functions
• Construction Paper
• Markers, crayons or colored pencils

Help your child understand about her bladder and the process of urination by giving her a simple anatomy lesson. Show your child the pictures in the anatomy book and trace how fluids make their way through the body. Teach her some of the simple words such as "bladder" and "kidneys."

Then, help your child draw an outline of a body and have him show you how fluids are processed in the body. This is a good opportunity to teach your child that some children's bladders mature at a slower rate than others, which is why the "extra liquid" in their bodies sometimes "overflows" at night. Not only will your child understand why bedwetting is happening to him, but you might inspire your own little doctor or artist!