Play is a crucial part of child development and is best when it becomes a massive part of a child's life. It contributes to cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development, sensory integration, language skills, and interpersonal relationships, as well as creativity. Play also sparks communication and communication drives brain growth. Our brain is always primed to play.

As children's first teachers, parents intuitively know the importance of play in a child's development. But despite its many benefits, we rarely associate play with learning. For most people, learning is perceived to involve gaining a specific new skill, such as memorizing the alphabet, counting, writing, etc., and play is intended to be fun. However, the developmental importance of play is well-documented. Play allows children to learn new skills, master newly acquired skills, as well as adapt the skills that have been learned and mastered and apply them to new situations.

Providing your child with ample time and opportunity to engage in structured and unstructured play is essential. According to American sociologist and researcher at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, Mildred Parten, as children grow and develop social skills, they go through six stages of play. Each stage is significant in their early childhood development and involves exploration, creativity, and enjoyment.

The stages of social play Parten identified are: unoccupied play, solitary play, onlooker and parallel play (which describe different stages of playing alone), as well as associative play, and cooperative play (which describe different stages of playing with peers). Let's have a closer look at them.

1. Unoccupied play
   In this stage, infants explore and develop their motor skills through hand, arm, leg, and foot movement. This is the foundation for the other five stages of play. It looks like babies are exploring materials around them without any sort of organization but, in fact, unoccupied play helps them to orient themselves in the world around them. This stage is characterized by a lack of social interactions and focus, as well as no clear storylines.
   

2. Solitary play
   This is a stage in which children tend to prefer playing alone, rather than interacting with others. While engaging in solitary play, children do not notice or acknowledge other children and are making no attempt to get close to or interact with others, but they are actively exploring the world around them. In solitary play, children can explore freely, master new motor or cognitive skills, and prepare themselves to play with others. This stage is characterized by increased focus and attention on toys, lack of clear goals, and using one object to represent another object (symbolic play).
   

3. Onlooker play
   At this stage, typically at two years old, a child tends to prefer observing other children playing without actively engaging with them. This is the first step to learning to play with their peers. They learn about the social rules of play and relationships as well as explore different ways of playing or using materials. This stage is characterized by an interest in other children’s play, withholding from play due to fear or hesitation, and making comments on the activities, but not directly joining others’ play.
   

4. Parallel play
   Parallel play refers to a situation where children engage in independent play activities while being in the presence of and alongside other children. In this stage, children are not really engaging in a social exchange, but they work side by side on the same activity, practicing skills and learning new methods to engage together. They tend to play beside and use similar toys to those around them, but are not playing directly with others. This stage is characterized by independent exploration, observing and mimicking others while playing in the same room and even engaging in the same activities, but having separate goals and focus during the activity.
   

5. Associative play
   At this stage, children begin to truly play with others. This is when they play together but have different ideas and goals. Children are less focused on the activity or object involved in play and begin to be more interested in the other players and associations with them. This stage allows children to practice what they have observed through onlooker and parallel play. Associative play is characterized by asking each other questions about play, mimicking and observing at a closer distance, interacting with each other, and sharing toys, but still not working toward a common goal.
   

6. Cooperative play
   This is when children are playing together and working toward the same goals. Parten describes this stage as the highest level of social play. Children might adopt group goals, establish rules for play, and demonstrate division of labor. Cooperative play is more complex because it requires negotiation skills among children. Sharing and turn-taking are still difficult for children so they will need our support and scaffolding to help them develop positive social skills. This stage is characterized by working cooperatively together, having special team roles and responsibilities, and sharing a common goal.

Play is recognized as a universal right of all children, and play's importance in early child development can't be underestimated. Having a better knowledge about stages of play will help us understand our children’s needs at different stages and help them gradually build their social skills. Encouraging play activities can significantly contribute to a child's physical and social development, making it an essential aspect of their overall well-being. Play enhances children's growth and development, improving social interaction, cooperation, communication, and empathy, helping them reach their full potential.

References

Stanton-Chapman T., Schmidt E., 2021, How do the children play? The influence of playground type on children’s play styles, Frontiers in Psychology (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703940)

Lee S.H. at all, 2022, Development of a Social Play Evaluation Tool for preschool children, Healthcare, 10, 102 (https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010102)

Gordon Biddle K. et all, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional, Chapter 10: Play and the Learning Environment, SAGE Publications (https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/53567_ch_10.pdf)

Pattern M., 1932, Social participation among preschool children, The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 27(3), 243–269 (https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0074524)

The 6 stages of how kids learn to play | Child development, 2022, Pathways (https://pathways.org/kids-learn-play-6-stages-play-development/)