Week 5 – 8 Understand through Play and It’s Theories

Learning of Objectives:

a) Discuss the understanding of play in early childhood.

b) Explain the importance of play in early childhood.
c) Differentiate the different types of theories in play.

Learning Through Play (Early Childhood Development)

Play is essential for all children, birth through age 8. Play develops young children’s symbolic
and imaginative thinking, peer relationships, language (English and/or additional languages),
physical development, and problem-solving skills. All young children need daily, sustained
opportunities for play, both indoors and outdoors. Play helps children develop large-motor and
fine-motor physical competence, explore and make sense of their world, interact with others,
express and control their emotions, develop symbolic and problem-solving abilities, and practice
emerging skills. Consistently, studies find clear links between play and foundational capacities
such as working memory, self-regulation, oral language abilities, social skills, and success in
school.

Early childhood settings should emphasize free play. Free play is not directed by the adult.
During free play children decide what to play, how to play, and with whom to play. Adults
support learning during play by putting materials in the classroom which are likely to stimulate
complex play themes. Toys that are designed to be used in one way are less likely to promote
complex play than are toys that can be used in many ways. Have you ever heard a parent joke
that their child ignored their birthday presents and instead spent the entire day playing with the
boxes they came in? This is a perfect example of the type of complex play that can be facilitated
with materials that can be used in many ways. As a bonus, these material are often less
expensive than toys with television.

In addition to creating an environment conducive to play, adults facilitate learning through play
by playing with the children. When doing this, avoid taking charge of the play. Instead, subtly
introduce new skills and thoughts into the children’s play with questions and comments. For
example, if children are pretending to cook, you can ask them what they’re making and cook
beside them. If you want to introduce writing into the play, you can pretend that you ran out of
an ingredient and need to go to the grocery store. You can then model writing a grocery list.
The Importance of Constructive Play

Piaget’s Stages of Play

According to Piaget, children engage in types of play that reflect their level of cognitive
development: functional play, constructive play, symbolic/fantasy play, and games with rules
(Johnson, Christie & Wardle 2005).

 Functional play is the use of bodily movements, with or without objects, such as
running and jumping, sliding, gathering and dumping, manipulating and stacking objects,
and informal games without rules.
 Constructive play uses objects—blocks, Legos, Tinkertoys, or different materials (sand,
modeling clay, paint, blocks)—in an organized, goal-oriented way to make something.
 Symbolic/Fantasy play is role playing or make-believe play, such as pretending to be a
baby, firefighter, superhero, or monster, and make believe actions, such as driving a car
by moving a pretend steering wheel, or using a block of wood as a cell phone.
 Games with rules are games with peers that are controlled by pre-established rules,
such as tag, Mother-May-I, checkers, Duck-Duck-Goose, and so on.

Piaget also viewed these forms of play as progressive, or cumulative, beginning with functional
play (i.e. an infant playing with a rattle) and progressing to games with rules. But, because a
game with rules requires someone to make sure players adhere to these rules—usually an adult
—it is often not included within the framework of free play. And, while functional play is the kind
of play encouraged in most outdoor playgrounds (swinging, sliding, riding tricycles, running, and
climbing), symbolic/fantasy play is viewed by many experts as the highest level of play in the
preschool and kindergarten years (Leong & Bodrova 2015). Early childhood scholars believe
that symbolic/fantasy play develops children’s social skills, basic mathematical abilities,
early literacy concepts, and behavioral self-regulation. Unfortunately some have even called
it mature play (Leong & Bodrova, 2015). Thus constructive play is often left out of the discussion
regarding the critical importance of play, or is simply viewed as a bridge between functional play
and the supposedly more desirable and sophisticated symbolic/fantasy play.

Why Social Play is Important?

Social play is a type of play that provides children with an important and unique learning
environment for social skills development through peer interaction.

Social play enables play-based learning in the following ways:

 Improve physical strength, cognitive skills, and social emotional development.

 Help children engage with the world around them and develop life skills.
 Promote resilience and improve confidence.
 Facilitate problem-solving skills development.
 Teach children how to share and resolve conflicts.
Parten’s Stages of Social Play

Mildred Parten, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child

Development, published a classic study in 1932 on the progressive stages of play. By observing
the behavior of preschool children, she found that social participation increased with age in free
play.

Based on her observations of children, Parten formulated a theory and classification of

children’s play corresponding to the stages of children’s development.
A. UNOCCUPIED PLAY

Unoccupied play is usually found in very young children with age from birth through three. In the
first few months of life children typically begin this first common form of play. This is the stage of
development where babies or young children seemingly make a lot of random movements with
their arms, legs, hands, and feet, but they do not engage with others.
During this time children do not seem to be playing but occupy themselves with watching
anything that happens to be of momentary interest.

B. ONLOOKER PLAY

After the unoccupied play stage, children move on to the onlooker play stage. This is most
common in children ages two and a half to three years old. Onlooker type of play occurs when a
child watches and observes other children at play, but there is no direct interaction.

This is the first sign of children showing interest in social aspects of play by observing, asking
questions, and making suggestions to others. However, they do not directly participate in the
play.

As opposed to unoccupied play, the onlooker is absolutely observing a particular group of

children rather than anything else that happens to be interesting at the moment. In order to be
able to see and hear everything going on, the child stands or sits within speaking distance of the
group.

C. Solitary Play

Playing alone or solitary play is the third stage of play behaviors. As the name implies, a child
spends much of their time playing alone with toys that are not the toys used by other children
nearby.

In the solitary play, the child is usually so absorbed in their own play that they show no interest if
other children are nearby and do not bother to approach them.

During this stage, children can develop their personal skills including motor skills, tactile skills,
and decision-making skills.
A good example is block building. It involved locating and placing each piece in its desired
position. While working on connections between objects, children exercise their thinking skills.
Additionally, foam blocks provide unique sensory experiences.

D. PARALLEL PLAY

Parallel play is commonly found in two-year-olds. In this stage, children play independently in
parallel play, but the activity they choose or the toys they play with are similar to those used by
other children around. Nevertheless, they do not mimic how other children play with the toy and
do not attempt to change the way other children play. They play beside rather than with other
children.

Parallel play is considered one of the first signs of social play in young children. Children pass
through this “stage” as they progress from solitary players to social ones.
Even though there is no direct social interaction between the child and other children, there is a
social element in the fact that they choose to play with the same toys.

E. ASSOCIATIVE PLAY

Often, children progress to associative play after the parallel play stage. In associative play,
group activities are loosely structured. Children participate in a common or similar activity, but
may have separate goals and focuses. While they may interact with each other, there is little
actual cooperation.

As children grow older, associative play becomes more common. This stage of play teaches
children how to get along with others. It teaches cooperation and improves language skills.

There are no rigid rules in associative play. Children in the group may be playing with similar
toys or engaging in the same type of play, but not necessarily doing the same thing.

F. COOPERATIVE PLAY

Associative play and cooperative play are closely related and sometimes difficult to distinguish.

In cooperative play, a child plays in a group organized for producing a product or for achieving a
common goal. Children begin the cooperative type of play at around the age of three.

Because younger children have difficulty expressing themselves verbally, they tend not to
participate.

There is a distinct sense of belonging or not belonging among the children in the group. Only
one or two children direct the goal-oriented group activities. The children may divide labor
according to their roles. Cooperative play helps children develop communication skills and
advanced organization skills as they work on a shared objective during game play.
Board games and role-playing games are some of the most common forms of cooperative play.
Another good example is a team game like “Simon Says” or “Follow The Leaders.”

Play Theories in Early Years

There are many different play theories in the Early Years and beyond. This page covers
theories put forward by Piaget, Vygotsky, Montessori and more. These help us understand how
play can benefit children, and how play can affect their development in a wide range of skills.
We can use these ideas and theories to inform much of how children's play is utilised during the
Early Years Foundation Stage.

What is a Theory of Play?

A theory of play is a set of ideas surrounding how play relates to and affects cognitive
development through childhood and beyond. This may be put forward by psychologists who
have been studying the way in which children's brains develop and how this affects us as
adults. Each one may be slightly different, choosing to priorities different experiences over
another. They have been used to inform Different Types of Play In Early Years, and to help
practitioners choose which ones to use in their settings.

Many of these theories are not to be considered right or wrong, but looking at several different
ideas and approaches can help practitioners and parents make informed decisions about what
kind of play environment they create for their children. These theories have developed a lot over
time, but all are focused on doing the best thing to help support young children as they are
developing.

Piaget Theory of Play

Jean Piaget's Theory of Play suggested that children's play and intellectual development are
keenly intertwined. As children grow and develop, their play environment should too. This is
based on Piaget's four stages of cognitive development:

 Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years) - Babies and toddlers live in the present, and
experience the world through exploration using their five senses.

 Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) - Young children will look at the world from
their point of view. They can think about things that are not in front of them with
pictures or words, but are not very skilled in problem-solving yet.

 Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) - Children become more empathetic,

and can think about the world from other's points of view. They are developing
 logic skills and can now work things out in their heads rather than using physical
representations.

 Formal Operational Stage (12+ years) - Older children can now talk more about
abstract ideas and form arguments. Their logic skills are more developed and
children can now think more independently and offer their own ideas.

Piaget suggests that all children will go through these stages in this order, but will do so at their
own pace. Some children may take longer to move to the next stage than others, and this is to
be expected.

From research in the 1920s, Piaget concluded that children's intelligence and logical thinking
works differently than adult's. It's not that children are less intelligent, it's that they have a
different kind of intelligence. It was also one of the first theories to suggest that children's
development stops and starts in stages, rather than progressing more fluidly.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that early years children learn most
effectively when exploring the world around them and making use of all of their senses. This
supported the popularity of discovery learning and sensory play. These enable children to
explore their environments and provide practitioners with ideas and suggestions for activities
that stimulate the senses to help keep children engaged, involved and learning.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Play

Lev Vygotsky disagreed with Piaget's four stages of development, instead suggesting that
children learn continuously and independently of specific stages. He believed that everyone is
born with four elementary mental functions:

 Attention
 Sensation
 Perception
 Memory

Through social interactions and cultural enrichments, we then gain higher mental functions by
engaging with others. Vygotsky proposed the importance of the 'zone of proximal development’,
which is the development of skills with help you can only get from an adult or friend, which
Vygotsky termed 'the more knowledgeable other'.

Vygotsky gave a more narrow definition of play than some theories, limiting it to pretend, make-
believe or imaginary play. His theory suggests that this imaginary play is vital to children's
cognitive, social, and emotional development and should be the main focus of helping children.
This play, to be effective, should create an imaginary situation for children to take on and act out
roles while following specific rules which are determined by those roles. Imaginary play lets
children think about and work through ideas and concepts which they cannot see in front of
them. The social nature is critical to helping children develop internal language and the ability to
think for themselves.

Froebel’s Theory of Play

Froebel's play theory for early years focuses on child-led play, believing this to be the basis for
physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development. His belief that “play is
the highest form of human expression in childhood” informed much of this theory, and still much
of teaching in nurseries.

He developed many key principles for his theory:

 Childhood should be valued as its own stage, not just a stepping stone to
adulthood.

 Play is vital to helping children learn how things work and about the world around
them.

 Children will all develop at different rates, and this should be respected.

 Education should focus on what children can do, not what they cannot do.

 Children's emotional, mental and physical states are all of vital importance.

 Children are heavily influenced by those around them, both adults and other
children.

Froebel also proposed a set of gifts and occupations, which highlighted the importance of child-
led learning in block play and sensory play. Each of these activities and provisions should be
planned and chosen by the practitioner to be relevant while focusing on children being given the
space to choose their own specific activity.

Montessori’s Theory of Play

Dr Maria Montessori started a school in Rome for young and disadvantaged children. Through
her work here, she developed a style of teaching which focused on child-led play, supported by
age-appropriate activities and provisions. A Montessori school provides various activities with
simple rules and structure, inside which the children have the freedom to direct their own
learning and play.

Dr Montessori believed that “play is the work of the child”. She proposed that play was key for
helping children make active choices and practise and perfect actions or tasks. Through
observing the children in her school, she theorised that children responded best to play based in
reality and play that used real-life objects.

Montessori's play theory for early years also focuses on the importance of sensory play for
children. This input helps them to take in and enjoy their environment and get stuck in the reality
of it.

Isaac’s Approach to Play

Susan Issacs' approach to play can also still be seen in many approaches today. A prominent
psychoanalyst in the 1900s, she built on Froebel and Montessori's prior work to support the
importance of play for young children. She suggested that play lets children best engage in
active learning and lets them feel comfortable with their own skills. By feeling at ease with their
own abilities, children can learn better through play.
In her theory of play for early years children, Isaac’s also believed that play gave children a safe
space for emotional development. Play can be a very emotional activity, whether it's getting into
character during role-play or playing a super competitive game. These activities give children a
safe and familiar environment to work through some of these feelings. By practicing and
expressing them in their early years setting, they can experience new feelings and learn how to
navigate them.

This is enhanced by the social nature of play. Children bond with each other through play,
learning how social interactions work. This helps them as they learn to manage social situations,
either in real conflicts or by playing pretend.