The 11 Most Common Types Of Play

Today, I’m looking at the 11 types of play that can usually be observed by children at different stages of their development.

The Underrated State Of Play

Now if this is your first time reading this blog you may not know that play is the secret sauce of Forest School and, alongside the Forest School Leader, is what allows your child to develop life skills to set them up for the future.

Play is so powerful and yet so underrated. I suppose potentially its for two reasons one children don’t ‘look’ like their learning and when adults assist it seems like they’re just having fun.

However to understand play and to be able to support them takes a huge amount of skills and knowledge of this area. But also I suppose we as adults are conditioned by our surroundings to believe learning is all about having a pencil in one hand and chair under your bottom.

The Reality Of Play

However, the reality is soooo much is going inside a child’s brain when they play that it’s impossible to all place into a single episode this is why I have chosen to split the large umbrella topic of play up into lots of smaller episode all the way from when I began this podcast to day number 365 when right now this season of the podcast will end.

Who knows what may come after it. Just because we can’t see whats going on doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Plus as I’ve said before children are born knowing how to play, this reveals that play is super important for their development and understanding of the world they live in.

So what are 11 types of play children undertake;

1. Unoccupied Play

Unoccupied play refers to play when a child actually isn’t playing at all. They may be engaged in seemingly random movements, with no objective. Despite appearances, this definitely is play and sets the stage for future play exploration.

2. Solitary (Independent) Play

Solitary play is just what it sounds like — when your child plays alone. This type of play is important because it teaches a child how to keep themself entertained, eventually setting the path to being self-sufficient.

Any child can play independently, but this type of play is the most common in younger children around ages 2 or 3. At that age, they are still pretty self-centered and are developing communication skills.

3.Onlooker Play
Onlooker play is when your child simply observes other children playing and doesn’t partake in the action. It’s common for younger children who are working on their developing vocabulary.

Don’t worry if your child is behaving this way. It could be that they feel shy, needs to learn the rules, or maybe is the youngest and wants just to take a step back for a while.

4. Parallel Play
Put two 3-year-olds in a room together and this is what you are likely to see: the two children having fun, playing side by side in their own little world. It doesn’t mean that they don’t like one another, they are just engaging in parallel play.

Despite having little social contact between playmates, children who parallel play actually learn quite a bit from one another like taking turns and other social niceties.3 Even though it appears they aren’t paying attention to each other, they truly are and often mimic the other one’s behavior. As such, this type of play is viewed as an important bridge to the later stages of play.

5. Associative Play
Slightly different from parallel play, associative play also features children playing separately from one another. But in this mode of play, they are involved with what the others are doing — think children plying in a mud kitchen. As they build their creating they are talking to one another and engaging each other.

This is an important stage of play because it helps little ones develop a whole host of skills — socialisation, problem-solving, cooperation and language development . Through associative play is how children begin to make real friendships.

6.Cooperative Play

Cooperative play is where all the stages come together and children truly start playing together. It is common in older preschoolers or in younger preschoolers who have older siblings or have been around a lot of children).
Cooperative play uses all of the social skills your child has been working on and puts them into action.

Whether they are building a puzzle together, playing a board game, or enjoying an outdoor group game, cooperative play sets the stage for future interactions as your child matures into an adult.

7. Dramatic/Fantasy Play

When your child loves to play dress-up, doctor, or restaurant, it’s dramatic or fantasy play they’re involved in. Through this type of play, not only does your child’s imagination get a workout, but they learn how to take turns, cooperate, share and work on language development.

Through roleplay, kids are also able to learn about functioning in the greater community.

8.Competitive Play

Whether your child is beating her brother at Chutes and Ladders or playing on a local soccer team, your child is engaging in competitive play. Rules and turn-taking, and functioning as part of a team are the big lessons taken from this type of play. You may have to give your child guidance about dealing with both winning and losing.

9.Physical Play

Gross and fine motor skills really come into play here, whether your child is throwing a ball or riding a bike. Physical play encourages kids to be active.

10. Constructive Play

Forms of constructive play include building with blocks, making a road for toy cars, or constructing a fort out of couch pillows. Constructive play teaches kids about manipulation, building, and fitting things together.

Cognitive skills are used to figure out how to make something work best, whether it is a block tower that won’t stand up or a sandcastle that keeps collapsing.

11. Symbolic Play

This type of play can be vocal (singing, jokes, rhymes), graphic arts (drawing, coloring), counting, or making music. This type of play helps children learn to develop skills in expressing themselves and exploring their experiences, ideas, and emotions.

So those are the 11 types of play children interact with. At Forest School most are seen except for number 1 unoccupied play and number 8 competitive play.

The reasons being is the wonderland that is the forest motivates children into play scenarios and Forest School ethos is one of child led play, simply the children choose, what, when and how they play which removes the need for rules, beyond the safety aspects .

Which play types do you see your child do the most? Drop me a comment or voice message on the podcast I’d love to interact with you guys.

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