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Play

 

 

Play is an essential part of every child’s life. It is important for the enjoyment of childhood as well as helping to develop social, emotional, intellectual and physical skills. Having time and space to play gives children the opportunity to meet and socialise with friends.

Allowing children freedom to choose what they want to do through play, increases their self-awareness, self-esteem and self-respect. Play provides children with opportunities to practice and develop their motor skills and cognitive thinking. They practice planning skills that are required for the functional tasks of day to day living: including dressing, school work, feeding and self-care.

Play happens naturally, a child is led to perform instinctive physical milestones through play. For example, a baby rolls over to reach that brightly coloured toy, a toddler pushes a car around the house while crawling on all fours, providing himself with vestibular and proprioceptive input and strengthening to the arms and neck.

 

The importance of play
  • Improves and maintains children’s physical and mental health
  • Allows children the opportunity to mix with other children and develops their confidence through developing new skills
  • Promotes their imagination, creativity and independence
  • Encourages children of all abilities and backgrounds to play together.
  • Provides opportunities to develop social skills learning.
  • Helps to encourage resilience through risk taking, and problems solving, and dealing with new situations.
  • Provides opportunities to learn about their environment and the wider community.

Play situations happen naturally and purposefully, even if the child doesn’t realise that their body is seeking out certain sensory situations.  

Whilst play should happen naturally, there are ways to support the development of skills through play. 

 

Types of play

Type of play

Functional skills

Fine motor

Games such as threading, buttoning, craft and building blocks can help develop fine motor and dexterity skills required for activities such as dressing and clothes fastening.  Fine motor skills are also important for the development of handwriting, and using tools such as cutlery and scissors.

Gross motor

Games and activities which involve climbing, swinging, running, pushing and pulling can help to develop the strength and coordination needed for dressing, riding a bike, drying after a shower or bath.

Planning

Puzzles, computer games, following treasure maps or writing lists can help develop the skills needed when following a timetable in school, packing a school bag or writing shopping lists and planning a bus route.

Imagination and creative

Playing games which involve shop or home corner can help develop imagination.

Social

Playing games, turn taking with others, role play, sports, construction games and outdoor “forest schools”.

 

Stages of play

Type

Age

Explanation

Solitary

0-2 years

Plays alone, little interaction

Spectator

2-2 ½  years

Watch others children but does not join in

Parallel

2 ½ - 3 years

Play alongside others but not together

Associative

3-4 years

Interacts with others.  Has a preference of people.

Cooperative

4 +

Play together and share goals. 

 

Play through the ages

From 0-2, play is solitary.  They are experiencing tastes, touch, sights, sounds, and smells.

A one year old repeats the same play actions over and over again in play routines.  Peek-a-boo and putting blocks into a basket over and over again helps the child to master physical and sensory skills.  

They develop problem solving, cause and effect, direction following, and a sense of self.

 

Play for a baby is:
  • Peek a boo
  • Board books with an adult
  • Cloth/cuddle toys
  • Teething toys
  • Play mats & floor play
  • Balls and sorting toys

  

Play for toddlers:

Toddlers begin to imitate, pretend, and play with others.  Pretend play encourages language, emotional exploration, and “job” scenes.  Through pretend play, children build social skills.  

They can lead scenes, take turns, follow directions, explore empathy, gain more of a sense of self, build self-confidence, while working on tool use, clothing fasteners, and building and developing fine and gross motor skills.

Toddlers explore their environment by walking and finding things, putting things into containers, rolling things, throwing things, turning pages, and examining the inside and outside of things.  

From 2 to 2.5, children observe others but do not play with them.

Children aged 2.5-3 play alongside other children, but not with them in social situations.

Starting at 3 years of age, children often times begin to interact with others in their play. 

  • Bath toys
  • Scribbling with crayons
  • Putting toys into a sorter
  • Rolling a ball
  • Carrying a bag full of toys
  • Pushing a toy shopping cart
  • Cause-effect toys
  • Board books

 

Play for pre-schoolers

Pre-school aged children, kids play together with shared roles. They are curious and love to explore stories about animals and people.  

Crayons, paints, scissors, clay, sand, dirt, and other things are fun!  

Running, jumping, tumbling, rolling, and spinning provide movement and heavy work fun.  

Functional play in the preschool years includes:

  • Pretend play with baby dolls, figures, cars
  • Building with blocks
  • Colouring with crayons
  • Painting 
  • Cutting with scissors and snipping paper

 Pre-school aged children love to mix and feel how things are as they explore.  Around three and four years old, imaginations begin to become awesome as they tell stories! 
 

Play for school aged children

School-aged children build cognitive skills in games as they problem solve, establish executive functions, share, build relationships, take part in winning/losing situations, and establish complex roles with other children.  

They are constructive with tools, projects, and toys. 

Functional play for school aged children includes:

  • Board games
  • Crafts
  • Drawing activities and supplies
  • Sports games and sporting events
  • Video games
  • Books
     
Play for teenagers

Even during the teens, children are developing skills in executive functioning skills, and refining motor skills, motor planning, and skill use. 

Functional play in the teenage years includes:

  • Board games
  • Books
  • Video/electronic games
  • Social activities
  • Crafts
  • Cooking activities

 

Hints & tips on how to build on natural play instincts with toys you already have in your house to work on developmental areas:

  • Use a child’s interests to create pretend play situations. 
  • Model appropriate language or problem solving. 
  • Encourage imitation of actions using cars or action figures.  
  • Work on arm strength and shoulder girdle strength by pushing cars up a ramp.  
  • Provide proprioceptive situations by playing and building couch cushion forts for dolls.  
  • Encourage turn-taking.
  • Allow your child to “lead” a play situation.
  • Encourage grasp development with toy manipulatives.
  • Discuss social interactions with small figures in small worlds, like this outdoors small world scene. 
  • Work on multi-step direction following in a pretend play situation where the bug needs to hop on the block, then go around the sticks, and get food from under the rock.

 

Opportunities for play

  • Accessible spaces for indoor and outdoor play.
  • Allow and develop interests with adult guidance and encouragement.
  • Variety of toys, games and activities to choose from.
  • Joining groups and clubs.

 

Useful resources on how to encourage play

N.B Please ensure that children are supervised whilst doing activities.

 

Links to further  information