What are the 6 Stages of Play?

The six stages of play are a way of understanding how children develop play skills. Each stage is marked by different kinds of play activities. As a parent, you can use these stages to help your child learn and grow.

But what are the six stages of play? The following will answer that question in full, give you an idea of the types of play associated with each stage and how you can help to support them.

The Benefits of Play For Children’s Development

Learning through play offers many benefits to children’s development. Let’s look at a few.

Play boosts confidence. Playing allows youngsters to feel brave. When children attempt new things, there's always the chance that something might go wrong, so they can't help but boost their self-esteem after successfully completing a task through play. They establish what they are capable of and what is within their limits, which gives them confidence in their abilities.

Play improves cognitive development. Playful learning is also beneficial for children because it helps them to strengthen their brain functions. Learning through play has been found to enhance a variety of cognitive abilities, including memory, problem-solving skills, dexterity, the ability to follow rules, and imagination. Children learn most effectively while playing since they are permitted to take risks and think outside the box.

Play boosts creativity. Play is an excellent tool for learning and development. Play, especially when playing with creative toys, allows children to learn about the world around them as well as how to interact with it, which aids in their intellectual growth. This enables your little ones to come up with their own concepts and express themselves creatively without restrictions. Because play occurs when a child is at their most creative, it is a vital part of their creative development.

Play improves social skills. Children develop social skills at home as well as in school. Learning through play provides children with numerous chances to interact with others, practice speaking and playing together, take turns talking and playing together, cooperate in basic activities, develop a sense of taking another person's perspective, and practice empathy for others' feelings. This is beneficial because these are the abilities that will help them to fit in and feel comfortable around others, which aids their future relationships.

Play fosters effective communication skills. When children play, they are actively communicating with one another. As they learn to speak, the words that they use during play help them understand how to communicate effectively with others. When children interact with their peers and siblings, both verbally and non-verbally, this enables them to continue learning more about language as well as practice new vocabulary words or concepts they have learned.

Read More: The 6 Must-Know Child Benefits of Learning Through Play

What are the 6 Stages of Play?

Unoccupied Play

Unoccupied play is right at the start of a child's life. This is where children are just exploring the world around them. It can be anything from watching a rolling ball to touching their toes, to staring at themselves in the mirror. This type of play helps children become familiar with their surroundings and discover how things work.

Solitary Play

Solitary play is when a child plays by themselves. This type of play is usually where children start to develop their imagination and creativity. During this stage, they will often use their own creativity to come up with games to play as well as stories to tell. This type of play helps children to become more independent and feel confident in their abilities. In this stage of play, one of our Pop-Up People could be helpful for getting your child interacting with a large character, before moving onto real people!

Some examples of solitary play include:

• Playing with hand puppets or dolls alone
• Drawing or coloring
• Building block towers

Observer Play

Observer play is when a child observes other children playing, but doesn't join in playing themselves. This type of play helps children learn social concepts, such as how to take turns, cooperate, and resolve conflicts. They also learn about the rules of games and how to interact with others.

Some examples of observer play include:

• Watching other children ride a swing or slide at the park
• Watching other children play with toys before joining in

Parallel Play

During parallel play, a child plays side-by-side with other children. But they don't interact or engage with each other. This type of play helps children to develop social skills and learn how to cooperate with others, without overwhelming them. This stage is especially beneficial for shy children who are more comfortable around other children when they aren't directly interacting with them.

Some examples of parallel play include:

• Playing with different toys next to other children without interacting with them
• Playing side-by-side but separate games at preschool or school without interacting with each other

Associative Play

In associative play, children start to interact and engage with each other, but aren't directly playing with each other. This might mean playing with the same equipment, such as building block towers next to each other, playing with the same toys but on different sides of the room, or taking turns riding a swing or slide.

Associative play also helps children develop their social skills and learn how to resolve conflicts, cooperate, and take turns with other children.

Some examples of associative play include:

• Playing with different toys next to each other and engaging
• Playing side-by-side but separate games at preschool or school and engaging

Cooperative Play

In cooperative play, children start to work together and actively engage with each other. At this stage of play, they might be playing educational games together or helping each other play with the same toys.

This type of play helps children develop their social skills, such as learning to take turns and cooperate with others. This stage of play is super useful for children before they start school, to teach them how to better get along with their peers.

This final stage of play covers all children's toys, games, and activities that encourage cooperation. Like this Discover the World Game.

Looking For More Creative and Educational Toys?

If you're looking for more toys to encourage the different stages of play in children, we're here to help.

Fiesta Crafts offers a wide range of creative and educational toys that help children during different stages of play. Our hand puppets, finger puppets, and more are perfect for encouraging solitary, associative, and cooperative play. To learn more about our products, visit our full range today.

Learn all about educational toys by reading some more of our blogs today!