For parents

The types of play in child development

If you've looked up how kids play, you've probably seen a few different lists. Most of them come from two older ideas. Here's what they mean in plain terms, and how they connect to the way your own kid likes to play.

The six stages of play

In 1932, a researcher named Mildred Parten watched preschoolers and described six ways young kids play, based on how much they play with other kids. They roughly come in order as kids get older, but kids move back and forth between them all the time. Older kids still play alone, and that's healthy.

1. Unoccupied play. Moving around, watching and touching things without an obvious game. This is where play starts, and it's mostly babies.
2. Solitary play. Playing alone with their own toys, without paying much attention to other kids. Very common before age 3, and good at any age.
3. Onlooker play. Watching other kids play, maybe talking to them, without joining in. A lot of kids figure out a game this way before they try it.
4. Parallel play. Playing next to another kid with similar toys, but not together. Two toddlers with trucks in the same sandbox. Common around 2 to 3.
5. Associative play. Playing with other kids, sharing toys and talking, but without a shared goal. Common around 3 to 4.
6. Cooperative play. Playing together toward something shared, like a game with roles, a fort or a team. It usually shows up around 4 and keeps growing from there.

The four kinds of play

A second list is about what kids are doing rather than who they're doing it with. It comes from Jean Piaget's work, and was built on by Sara Smilansky in the 1960s.

1. Functional play. Repeating an action because it's fun. Banging, running, filling a bucket and dumping it out.
2. Constructive play. Making something. Blocks, drawings, sandcastles, a cardboard spaceship.
3. Dramatic or pretend play. Acting out roles and stories. Playing house, superheroes, running a pretend shop.
4. Games with rules. Games where everyone agrees on the rules, and there's often a winner. Tag, board games, sports.

You'll also see physical play (climbing, chasing, rough and tumble), sensory play (sand, water, dough) and language play (rhymes, silly words) on a lot of lists. They overlap with the four above.

Where Play Types fit

The stages and kinds of play describe how play develops. They don't tell you what your kid gets excited about. That's what the seven Play Types on this site are for. They aren't a scientific framework. They're a practical way to describe what a kid reaches for first, so it's easier to pick weekend ideas, gifts and screens.

• Builders lean toward constructive play.
• Storytellers and Performers lean toward dramatic play, one inward and one for an audience.
• Competitors love games with rules.
• Explorers lean toward physical and outdoor play.
• Collectors love finding, sorting and naming things.
• Puzzlers love a problem with an answer.

The ages above are rough, and every kid moves at their own pace. If you're worried about how your kid plays or gets along with other kids, their pediatrician is the right person to ask.