Play is nothing new, we’ve all been doing it for centuries. The true wonder of play is that it comes in all different shapes and sizes. Some children may show a preference for a particular form of play, choose to freely move in and out of different types of play, or even engage in multiple at a time. It might be indoors or outdoors, quiet, loud, busy, thoughtful, funny, clean or messy! It’s all valuable and each have their own advantages.
Let’s unpack some of the different types of play, and why they’re so beneficial for a child’s early development.
Physical Play can be anything involving movement like climbing, throwing, running, jumping, or skipping. Also referred to as motor play, this type of play promotes activity in children and helps develop their gross and fine motor skills, which are crucial for their healthy growth and development.
Language Play is beneficial as it lays the groundwork for a child’s communication abilities and aids in the development of their social skills through learning to interact with others. Typically, this involves playing with sounds and includes rhymes, songs, miming, or non-verbal communication such as hand signals.
Sensory Play activates the senses and encourages children to explore taste, smell, touch, as well as texture, color, and shape. Sometimes it might feel messy and disorderly (like a hand straight into a bowl of spaghetti!), but it’s so important for forming neural connections in the brain and developing fine motor skills and coordination.
Pretend Play enhances children’s language skills and self-expression. Engaging their imaginations, your little one might choose to embody an animal, a fairy, a chef, a police officer, or any other character that comes to mind. By stepping into someone else’s shoes, it fosters the development of empathy and promotes curiosity.
Mastery Play involves activities that enable children to practice and perfect new skills. Through repetition, children can become proficient in their abilities. Activities such as climbing stairs, digging holes, creating sandcastles, constructing structures, throwing a ball and learning to ride a bike are examples of mastery play.
Nature Play involves children engaging in active outdoor play, with the aim of developing their wonder and curiosity in nature, imagination, skills and independence to play without the need for parental or adult control.
Games with Rules are where children follow or create rules to reach a shared objective in a game, helping them to learn about patience, turn taking and fairness. Simple board games or group games (for example Duck, Duck Goose) are a great way for children to learn the concept of rules and can be great fun for everyone involved.
Social Play is where little ones play with others, and learn about taking turns, cooperating, and sharing. It also aids in the development of their language skills.
Role Play, like pretend play, involves exploring characters, but to a lesser degree. In scenes like playing shops or ‘Mums and Dads’, children will fill the roles and act out scenarios which help them to explore various concepts and build confidence.
Expressive and Creative Play allows children to communicate their feelings and thoughts, through activities such as drawing, painting, singing, dancing, playing an instrument, sculpting or colouring. Children not only explore new concepts and methods of expression but also discover and understand various emotions.
Constructive Play is all about building and creating. Whether it’s constructing a tower, creating a pillow fort or sculpting a sandcastle, children hone their abilities in planning, problem solving and cooperation. it’s also great for introducing early STEM concepts like distance and size.
Unstructured play or free play is any spontaneous play that the child initiates. Children are driven by their personal interests and curiosity, following their self-established rules. This type of play offers children the freedom to start and end play according to their own choice.
No matter what type of play engages them, let your child’s preferences and imagination guide their fun, and watch them learn new and vital skills through each activity every day.