STAGES OF PLAY
Children’s skill and development and experience all affect how they play. However, we can broadly classify play into a series of stages. The first series of stages we will look at relates to Social stages of play. There are 6 social stages of play that children engage in from 0-6.
Stage 1 Onlooker Play
This is where children watch others, usually from the sidelines and then later imitate the play behaviour they have seen. It is most commonly associated with Infants and Toddlers. However, it may also be undertaken by children who are older than this and who may be new to the group. (Consider your first day at TAFE and think about how you learnt to cope).
Stage 2 Solitary Play
This is where children play alone and is generally seen in children under 2. This is because children of this age don’t have the language or social skills to engage in more complicated play. While engaging in this play children will be aware of others around them. Older children may also take part in solitary play at times.
Stage 3 Parallel Play
This is where children participate in the same experience as a peer nearby. Rather than interacting they tend to play similarly side by side sometimes mirroring each other. This generally occurs with children 2-3 years old who still may not have the cognitive, language and social skills to interact socially with others.
Stage 4 Associative Play
In this stage children begin to make contact with each other during play. There may be some communication and sharing of equipment or a laugh but they don’t actually work together to complete the task. This occurs around 3 years.
Stage 5 Cooperative Play
Between 3 and 5 years children develop an interest in others. They begin to share their ideas and work together to solve a task. They begin to take on roles in their play which is more complex and may last a long time. They begin to negotiate and discuss to achieve an outcome.
Stage 6 Competitive Play
This generally occurs about school age. Children become focussed on achieving an end product or competing to win. This type of play is inevitable but can sometimes be destructive to peer relationships and children’s self esteem. Rather we should try to encourage collaboration among peers.