Children at Play

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Children at Play

• Categories of Play

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Play Categories

• Developed by Mildred Parten (1932)
• Most elaborate attempt to explain developmental
  changes in childrens social play
• Based on free play of preschool age children

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UNOCCUPIED PLAY

• Child is not engaging in play as it is commonly
  understood.
• May stand in one spot, look around the room, or
  perform random movements that seem to have no
  goal.
• In preschools unoccupied play is less frequent
  than other types of play.

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UNOCCUPIED PLAY
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SOLITARY PLAY

• The child plays alone and independently of those
  around.
• The child seems engrossed in what s/he is doing.
• Does not care much about anything else that is
  going on.
• 2-3 year old preschoolers engage in solitary play
  more frequently than older preschoolers.

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ONLOOKERS

• The child watches other children playing.
• S/he may talk with them or ask them questions but
  does not enter into their play behavior.
• The childs active interest in other childrens
  play distinguishes the onlooker play from
  unoccupied play.

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ONLOOKERS
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PARALLEL PLAY

• The child plays alone, but with toys like those
  that other children are using or in a manner that
  mimics the behavior of other playing children.
• The older the child, the less frequently he or
  she engages in this type of play.
• Even older preschool children, however, engage in
  parallel play relatively often.

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ASSOCIATIVE PLAY

• Social interaction with little or no organization
  is involved in associative play.
• Children engage in play activities similar to
  those of other children however, they appear to
  be more interested in being associated with one
  another than in the tasks in which they are
  involved.
• Borrowing or lending toys and materials and
  following or leading one another in line are
  examples of associative play.
• Each child plays as s/he wishes there is no
  effort at placing the group first and the self
  last.

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ASSOCIATIVE PLAY
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COOPERATIVE SOCIAL

• Interaction in a group with a sense of group
  identity and organized activity characterizes
  cooperative play.
• Childrens formal games, competition aimed at
  winning something, and groups formed by the
  teacher for doing things together usually are
  examples of this type of play.
• Cooperative play is the prototype for the games
  in middle childhood little of it is seen in the
  preschool years.

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COOPERATIVE SOCIAL