1. CL pg. 251
Reviewing the Facts
2. Turn and take a
worksheet from the
back table
• What may seem like fun, cute or even silly
activities to adults are really the ways in
which babies and children learn about
their world.
• Through play, children explore their
surroundings, understand their place in the
world, develop physical, cognitive and
emotional skills and learn social cues to
practice their social skills.
Learning Through Play
Play promotes all areas of a toddler’s
development:
– Physical
– Intellectual
– Communication
– Social
Learning Through Play
• Physical Development
– As toddlers become more adept at using
their new balance, coordination and
muscle strength, their physical skills will
become more complex as well—moving
from walking to running, jumping,
climbing, dancing, and pedaling.
Learning Through Play
• Intellectual or Thinking Skills
From age 1 to 2, toddlers are “do-ers”—they want to
make things happen!
You will see your child acting with a goal in mind,
whether it is climbing on top of the kitchen table or
getting a block tower just right.
Learning Through Play
• Intellectual or Thinking
Skills
As they play, they are also
testing the properties of
objects—what bends, what
snaps, what bounces, what
sinks, what floats.
While this can be messy,
exploration like this helps
children better understand how
the world works. (P.S.: Time
to child-proof!)
Learning Through Play
• Communication Skills
Your toddler can probably tell you exactly how
she is feeling through her cries and gestures,
but will increasingly start to use words to
communicate.
As your child plays, you can promote her
language development by talking about your
game, her toys, and the world around her.
Encourage pretend play (“role-playing”) when
she is ready, as dialogue flows naturally from
these acted-out stories.
Learning Through Play
• Social Skills
Toddlers develop social skills as you show your
enjoyment in spending time with them—this
makes them feel fun to be with, loved, and
special.
Through play, you can help your child practice
turn-taking, sharing, and cooperation.
Learning Through Play
• Social Skills
At this age, playing with peers
often means parallel play, in
which children play next to,
but not with, another child.
This is normal and is an early
friendship-building
experience, as children watch
and imitate others.
Ways to Promote Your Child’s
Development Through Play
Make movement activities part of every day.
Possibilities for play grow by leaps
and bounds for your young toddler!
Physical skills are taking off as your
child learns to stand on two feet,
walk forwards and back, and even
jump, run, and climb.
Look for games that encourage
movement and help build on
new physical strength,
coordination, and balance.
Play
• In order for an activity to be called play, the
player must choose to participate; a play activity
is self-chosen.
• The child controls how long she will participate.
• The child defines the goals of the activity.
• Play is active, not passive. It is interactive.
• Play has no rules.
• Children playing outdoors often have more
freedom than is typical of indoor play.
Types
of
Play
Unoccupied Play
Generally the very young infant will engage in this type
of play. They tend to be looking at their hands or other
body parts or cooing to themselves. They do not seek
contact with others or appear to have a purpose.
Usually seen during infancy. Infants tend to
play by themselves totally unaware of
others around them. Children will engage in
solitary play at all ages. This is also typical
play of toddlers
This can occur across many stages of
development, but is most commonly associated
with infants and toddlers. Evidence of onlooker
play is seen when children are near a group of
other children and are often following the actions
or copying what is happening in the play.
Parallel play: This type of play is also common in
the toddler years and into the early preschool
years. Children will now tolerate other children
standing near them when playing and using the
same equipment. However, they are only
concerned with what they are doing and have
few meaningful interactions.
This is first seen usually in the early preschool
years. Children will begin to play and talk with
each other in dramatic play situations where
roles may be taken on. However, these roles
are usually not sustained for any length of time.
There doesn’t seem to be a common purpose to
the play.
Cooperative play occurs in the later preschool years.
Children are able to take on roles and sustain them for
the duration of the play. The group of children have
agreed upon goals and roles for the play. In this stage of
play, leaders and followers emerge within groups. Roles
are delegated and tasks distributed within the group.
There is a common goal and children will play together
in a more complex way.
This stage usually emerges in the school-aged group when
achievement, completing tasks and producing an ‘endproduct’ becomes more meaningful. Competitive play is
inevitable but should be played down by carers as too much
emphasis on competition can be destructive to peer
relationships and children’s self-esteem. Instead there
should be an emphasis on collaboration.
Paste the
pictures on the
construction
paper on the
back table
We also need to
remember that not all
children develop the
same skills at the
same time. Individual
differences occur and
some of these may be
a result of the diversity
that exists within our
community. This
diversity can include;
How do you know this
isn’t an aggressive encounter?
What type of play is this?