Unit 4
Types of Play
Play isn't about your preschooler having
fun.
It's an important part of early
childhood development that often sets
the tone for how your child learns and
socializes in the future.
Anthony Bradshaw
Parten's Classification of Play
In 1932 Mildred B. Parten developed a system for classifying participation in play. This
organization is still considered one of the best descriptions of how play develops in
children (Gander, Mary and Harry W. Gardiner, 1981).
How important is play to your little one? Consider this. When a child
engages in play, whether it's rolling a ball back and forth with a sibling
or putting on a costume and imagining she's an astronaut -- she's
developing important social skills like learning to take turns, how to
cooperate and getting along with others as well as honing her creativity
and imagination. Play doesn't just vary by activity either -- sociologist
Mildred Parten discovered there are six types of play that a child will
take part in, depending on their age, mood and social setting. They are:
 Unoccupied play Referring mostly to newborns and infants, the term
unoccupied play refers to activity when a child actually isn't playing at
all. He may be engaged in seemingly random movements, with no
objective. Despite appearances, this is definitely play and setting the
stage for future play exploration.
 Solitary (independent) play Just what it sounds like -- when your child
plays alone. This type of play is important because it teaches a child how
to keep himself entertained, eventually setting the path for being self
sufficient. Any child can play independently, but this type of play is the
most common in younger children ages two or three. Part of it has to do
because they are still pretty self-centered, but a lack of good
communication skills also plays a role. If a child is on the shy side and
doesn't know the person who he is playing with well, he may prefer this
type of play.
 Onlooker play Also common in younger children who are working on
their developing vocabulary, onlooker play is when a child simply
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

observes other children playing and doesn't partake in the action. Don't
worry if your little one is behaving this way -- it could be that the child
feels shy or needs to learn the rules or maybe is the youngest and wants
to just take a step back for a while.
Parallel play Put two three 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 with her playmate, children who parallel play actually learn quite
a bit from one another like taking turns and other social niceties,
because 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.
Associative play Slightly different than 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 making a city with blocks. As they build their individual
buildings, 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 -- socialization (what should we build now?) and problem
solving (how can we make this city bigger?), cooperation (if we work
together we can make our city even better!) and language development
(learning what to say to get their messages across to one another).
Through associative play is how children begin to make real friendships.
Cooperative play Where all the stages come together and children truly
start playing together. Common in older preschoolers (or in younger
preschoolers who have older siblings or have been around a lot of
children), cooperative play brings together 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, "house" or an outdoor
game with a group, cooperative play really sets the stage for future
interactions as your child matures into an adult.
While these stages are important and necessary for a child's social
development, there are other types of play that also contribute to a
child's maturity. These types of play usually develop as a child begins to
engage in cooperative play and include:

Dramatic/Fantasy play Got a kid who loves to play dress up? How about
"doctor" or "restaurant?" That's dramatic, or fantasy play. Through
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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 role play, kids are also able to learn about
functioning in the greater community.
Competitive play Whether she's 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 are the big lessons taken from
this type of play, but so are taking turns and functioning as part of a
team (if that is the type of play involved). This can be a very fun type of
play if your child wins, but be prepared to talk your child through it if
she loses.
Physical play This type of play is less about being social (although it
certainly involves that) and more about being physical. Gross and fine
motor skills really come into play here, whether your child is throwing a
ball or riding a bike. Physical play is important because it encourages
kids to be active, something they are likely to do as they get older.
Constructive play Building with blocks. Making a road for some toy cars.
Constructing a fort out of couch pillows. All forms of constructive play.
Constructive play teaches kids about manipulation, building and fitting
things together. Cognitive skills are important here too as a child learns
to figure out how to make something work best, whether it is a block
tower that won't stand up or a sand castle that keeps collapsing.
Ideas for Play
 The
Importance
of Dress Up Play
 Indoor Games for
Preschoolers
 Games to Play with
a Ball
Family Play
 50 Things to Do
Outside
as
a
Family
 Top
Preschool
Board Games
 Outdoor
Games
that Build Skills
How to Facilitate
Play
 Preschool
Play
Dates
 Set
Up
a
Preschool
Play
Group
 Create a Parent
Network
Reading Comprehension
Circle True or False
1.
The above text is mainly concerned with the importance of play.
True False
2.
In Unoccupied play, the child is merely looking around to see
whether something interesting is happening. True False
3.
Solitary play is a type of play where a child plays on his own without
attempting to make any contact with other children. True False
4.
Involvement in other children’s play is not a necessary feature in
Onlooker play. True False
5.
Cooperative type is a manipulative play that teaches problem
solving skills. True False
6.
Dramatic play relates not only to children’s social but also to their
cognitive abilities. True False
7.
Constructive play is where play is shared and negotiated with
sharing and turn taking. True False
8.
Socialization is not the central concept of physical play. True False
Word list-Important terms
Unoccupied play-ελεύθερο παιχνίδι
Solitary play-μοναχικό παιχνίδι
Onlooker play-το παιχνίδι του θεατή
Parallel play-παράλληλο παιχνίδι
Associative play-συντροφικό παιχνίδι
Cooperative play-συνεργατικό παιχνίδι
Vocabulary Exercises
1. There are ten words missing. Can you find them?
Choose from: sense, control, brain, literacy, cultural,
flexible, thoughts, solve, consider, roles.
Functions of Play
Research has demonstrated that play enables children to:
a. make ______of their world
b. expand social and ________understandings
c. express personal_______ and feelings
d. practice _______and divergent thinking
e. encounter and _______real problems
f. learn to _______ other people’s perspectives
g. negotiate play_______ and plans
h. develop self _____
i. extend language and _________ skills
j. enhance ________and motor development
2. A chase!
Find the missing word. You may have to change the form of a word.
Choose from: sequence,aware, obese, assess, overwhelm, accomplish
Types of Play: Physical
Sourse: Childhood101.com
June 11, 2010
Given the problem of a._________prevalent in today’s society, I believe
physical play is one of the most important types of play we should
encourage children (of all ages) to engage in.
That being said, physical play is not only good for physical health but also
for stress reduction and as an outlet for the relief of
b._________emotions, those which often children don’t know how to
otherwise express. Learning to master a new physical skill, such as
climbing up a tree, provides children with c._________of their bodies
and developing physical abilities, their own strength, and also the ability
to d.______ risk. Conquering physical skills provides children with
feelings of e._________, positive self esteem and a sense of power and
freedom. All of these are important skills for life and health.
Children generally follow a standard f._______ when it comes to
developing physical skills. This is most obvious with babies as we watch
them learn to roll before they crawl, or stand and balance holding onto
the furniture before they take their first steps towards walking
independently.
What sorts of physical skills can we assist our children to develop?
Here are a few ideas to get your started;
1. Balloons are great for
chasing,
2. Provide opportunities to
crawl
3. Draw chalk lines on the
4. Encouraging children to dig
in
5. Pop on some music
6. Chase seagulls
7. For preschoolers, teach
them old
a. the sandpit or garden, rake up
leaves or sweep up sand.
b. hitting and kicking.
c. bricks or concrete to move
along (crawl, walk, balance heel
to toe, skip) and jump over.
d. and dance
e. through, climb up or over,
balance on and hang from.
f. fashioned outdoor games like
hopscotch, elastics and how to
jump rope.
g. along the beach
Writing
1.Write a definition essay on play, its characteristics and finally its
importance. The following information may assist you in your writing.
Defining Play
Hughes (2003) offers three criteria that may help to define play:
•
freedom of choice
•
personal enjoyment
•
focus is on the activity itself rather than its outcomes.
These three criteria are foundational to the play process and in
connecting children’s development with their learning. Building on these
foundations of play are the characteristics of play.
Characteristics of play?
• self-directed
• open-ended
• enjoyable
• motivating
• self-selected
• voluntary
• flexible
•
individual
or
group
2. Alternativelly, write on Play and learning..
The following notes may be useful in composing your essay.
PLAY AND LEARNING
Learning through play offers children a better educational opportunity.
Literally a wealth of theorists with all different kinds of research documenting the
effectiveness of Play Based learning.
"Piaget believed that children were active agents of their own learning and that the
major task for them was to develop an ability to organize experiences and learn from
them in a way which enables them to make sense of the world”(O'Hagan and Smith 2004,
10).
Dewey- experiential learning. The pupil works with and manipulates objects and
situations. Significantly more effective as a teaching and learning method than is a
concentration on content. Concentration on content means that the pupil memorizes
information from a book (Dewey 1966, 202).
Talk about play Based teaching and learning.
Children can situate new information and concepts.
Children's intellect is engaged and progressed (Dewey 1966, 234).
Umek and Musek argue that play provides an encouragement on greater language
comprehension and development (Umek and Musek 2001, 56).
Vygotsky argued that Play Based instruction well into late childhood, advocating that if
the tools of thinking available to a child were changed, the child's mind would develop
along a structure consistent with those tools (Vygotsky 1978, 126).
Result: children do not develop critical thinking thought structures, but think along the
lines of passive learning. Not without experiential and Play Based learning
For Froebel (1967) play was seen as the free activity of the whole life of the pupil's
mind in agreement with the child's whole life (Froebel 1967, 167). Bruner et al viewed
play as itself a form of problem-solving, requiring self-initiation and increasing problemsolving abilities (Bruner et al 1976, 256).
In addition, play reduced the stress in children, making them better able to focus and
establish goals in their learning experience (Bruner et al 1976, 256). He believed
learning and problem solving emerged out of exploration.
Bruner and Bedford also found that play reduced stress and thus enhanced learning
attainment (Bruner et al 1976, 256). Gardner argued not all pupils learn in the same way.
So formal learning methods, short-change all but those who happen to match the
teaching of the instructor (Gardner 1991, 14).
Finally, when approprietly structured, play becomes a means of effective assessment,
where the teacher can see pupils act out their understanding and grasp of a subject.
"Children can achieve higher levels of individual cognitive functions (conservation, oneto-one correspondence, decentration) in their symbolic play than they demonstrate when
the same mental operations are tested and measured in formal, non-play, situations"
(Umek and Musek 2001, 64).
CONCLUSION
If we step back and look at the pros and cons of Play Based learning, it becomes obvious
that play is not only an effective means of teaching and learning, but often the most
beneficial to the child.
Because he learns through play a child learns willingly and learns much. Play must not be
left out of the elementary curriculum (Froebel 1967, 167).
Here are suggestions for using words and phrases which could improve your academic
writing structure and style significantly.
1. INTRODUCTION
• This essay will deal with the following aspects of the question...
• The aim of this essay is …
2. GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF THE ESSAY CONTENT
• In order to link.... with ...., the background to ... will be briefly outlined.
• The first part of the analysis will examine....
• The second part of this analysis will consider...
• The final level of the analysis consists of...
3. MAKING A POINT
• It is clear/ noticeable that...
• It is necessary/ important/ useful/ interesting/to note/point out/ highlight/
emphasise that
4. EMPHASIS MARKERS show clearly what you think is most important but
allow you to avoid personal language such as 'I think'
Adjectives: main, crucial, important, significant, key, essential
Nouns: focus, element, concept, theory, aspect, part, idea, point, argument,
discussion, debate
Verbs: to emphasise, to summarise, to focus, to highlight
Examples:
• The key aspect of this argument is
• The most crucial point made so far
• It is worth noting that
• Another relevant point is that
5. INTRODUCING A NEW IDEA
• Turning now to the question of
• Bearing in mind the previous points,
• Having considered (X)
• With regard to
• As far as ....... is concerned
6. HEDGING
The group of 11 words called modals can help you avoid over-generalisation
as they express degrees of certainty and possibility, thereby avoiding making
statements which claim too much or suggest you know everything about a
subject.
The 11 modals are:
CAN MAY COULD MIGHT WILL
WOULD SHALL SHOULD, OUGHT TO MUST NEEDN'T
By far the most useful modal verbs are CAN, MAY, COULD and MIGHT. If
you say something IS true you may well be guilty of over-generalisation. If
you say something MAY or MIGHT be true you avoid this problem.
• It could/might be said that ....
• It seems/appears ...
• It is generally thought/considered ......
• Some/many people think/believe ......
7. CITING RESEARCH
• It has been found that
• Research has shown that
8. MAKING HYPOTHESES
• If, then
• Assuming that
9. STATING CONDITIONS
• Given that
• Provided that
• Granted that
• If it is the case that & then,
10. GIVING EXAMPLES
• For example/instance
• In this situation/case
• To illustrate
11. ADDING INFORMATION
• Again/ besides/ equally important/ in addition/ further/ furthermore/
moreover
• It must also be noted/ remembered that
12. DISCUSSION MARKERS
• On the one hand, on the other hand
• Although it may be true that....however
• Whilst it is generally agreed that
• There exists a contradiction between ..... and
• Those in favour of/ Supporters/Advocates of
• Those opposed to/ Critics of
13. RE-PHRASING
• In other words
• To put it another way
• That is to say
14. EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE.
This is used to show more clearly what you think about different points.
Do you already use these words? Could you use them more?
Positive adjectives: remarkable, innovative, complex, interesting, profound,
comprehensive, powerful, rigorous, systematic, useful, sensitive, reliable,
logical,
Negative adjectives: flawed, modest, unsatisfactory, inadequate, limited,
restricted
Nouns: synthesis, survey, topic, study, review, history, concept, area, theme,
overview, analysis, system
Reading ComprehensionKey: 1.False 2.True 3.True 4.True 5.False 6.True 7.
False 8.True
Exercise 1 Key : a. sense b. cultural c .thoughts d. flexible e. solve f.
consider g. roles h. control i. literacy j. brain.
Exercise 2 Key: a. obesity b. overwhelming c. awareness d. assess
e. accomplishment f. sequence
Exercise 3 Key: 1b, 2e,3c.4a,5d,6g,7f