A developmental psychologist studied the six types of play that children engage in from ages 2 to 5. She observed them playing and categorized their behaviors. The first four types like unoccupied and solitary play involved little interaction, while the last two like associative and cooperative play involved more social interaction and teamwork. As children grow older, they shift from the less interactive types of play to the more social types that help them learn skills for relating to others.

1. 6 Types of Play — PsyBlog
http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/07/6-types-of-play-how-we-lear...
PsyBlog
6 Types of Play: How We Learn to Work
Together
PLAY IS A serious business. The pioneering developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky thought that, in
the preschool years, play is the leading source of development.
Through play children learn and practice many
basic social skills. They develop a sense of self,
learn to interact with other children, how to
make friends, how to lie and how to role-play.
The classic study of how play develops in
children was carried out by Mildred Parten in
the late 1920s at the Institute of Child
Development in Minnesota. She closely
observed children between the ages of 2 and 5
years and categorised their play into six types.
Parten collected data by systematically
sampling the children’s behaviour. She
observed them for pre-arranged 1 minute
periods which were varied systematically
(Parten, 1933).
The thing to notice is that the first four
categories of play don’t involve much
interaction with others, while the last two do. While children shift between the types of play, what
Parten noticed was that as they grew up, children participated less in the first four types and more in
the last two – those which involved greater interaction.
1. Unoccupied play: the child is relatively stationary and appears to be performing random
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2. 6 Types of Play — PsyBlog
http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/07/6-types-of-play-how-we-lear...
movements with no apparent purpose. A relatively infrequent style of play.
2. Solitary play: the child is are completely engrossed in playing and does not seem to notice
other children. Most often seen in children between 2 and 3 years-old.
3. Onlooker play: child takes an interest in other children’s play but does not join in. May ask
questions or just talk to other children, but the main activity is simply to watch.
4. Parallel play: the child mimics other children’s play but doesn’t actively engage with them. For
example they may use the same toy.
5. Associative play: now more interested in each other than the toys they are using. This is the
first category that involves strong social interaction between the children while they play.
6. Cooperative play: some organisation enters children’s play, for example the playing has some
goal and children often adopt roles and act as a group.
Unlike Jean Piaget who saw children’s play in primarily cognitive developmental terms, Parten
emphasised the idea that learning to play is learning how to relate to others.
» This is part of a series on 10 crucial child
psychology studies. Read more on the
emergence of infant memory, self-concept,
learning, attachment, social behaviour,
theory of mind, object permanence,
language and knowledge.
[Image credit: Seema K K]
Reference
Parten, M. (1933). Social play among
preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and
Social Psychology, 28, 136-147.
Jeremy Dean
Jeremy Dean is a psychologist and the author of PsyBlog. His latest book is
"Making Habits, Breaking Habits: How to Make Changes That Stick". You can
follow PsyBlog on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
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3. 6 Types of Play — PsyBlog
http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/07/6-types-of-play-how-we-lear...
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