Play is a serious business. The pioneering developmental
psychologists thought that, in the preschool years, play is the leading source
of development.
Through play children learn and practice many basic social
skills. They develop a sense of self, learn to interact with other children,
how to make friends, how to lie and how to role-play.
The classic study of how play develops in children was
carried out by Mildred Parten in the late 1920s at the Institute of Child
Development in Minnesota. She closely observed children between the ages of 2
and 5 years and categorised their play into six types.
Parten collected data by systematically sampling the
children’s behaviour. She observed them for pre-arranged 1 minute periods which
were varied systematically.
The thing to notice is that the first four categories of
play don’t involve much interaction with others, while the last two do. While
children shift between the types of play, what Parten noticed was that as they
grew up, children participated less in the first four types and more in the
last two – those which involved greater interaction.
Unoccupied
play: the child is relatively stationary and appears to be
performing random movements with no apparent purpose. A relatively infrequent
style of play.
Solitary
play: the child is are completely engrossed in playing and does
not seem to notice other children. Most often seen in children between 2 and 3
years-old.
Onlooker
play: child takes an interest in other children’s play but does
not join in. May ask questions or just talk to other children, but the main
activity is simply to watch.
Parallel
play: the child mimics other children’s play but doesn’t actively
engage with them. For example they may use the same toy.
Associative
play: now more interested in each other than the toys they are
using. This is the first category that involves strong social interaction
between the children while they play.
Cooperative
play: some organisation enters children’s play, for example the
playing has some goal and children often adopt roles and act as a group.
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