watch children play to gain an understanding of chil-
dren’s problems and to help them deal with their
emotions. The universal nature of play can also pro-
vide professionals working with children a basis for
comparing typical and atypical development and be-
havior.
What Is Play?
In a preschool classroom, two four-year-old chil-
dren pretend to go grocery shopping. One child me-
thodically checks her grocery list and asks her friend
what they need to buy. The other child places pretend
groceries consisting of empty cans and boxes into his
grocery sack. Once his sack is full, he asks his friend
if she has any money in her purse to pay for the gro-
ceries. As she digs in her purse for the plastic coins
and paper money, he approaches another child at the
toy cash register to make his purchase.
As typical children grow and learn, they progress
through stages of increasingly more complex levels of
play. The above example illustrates a sophisticated
level of play, where children pretend to be grocery
shopping and take on the roles of shoppers, and em-
ployee. Jean Piaget, a well-known Swiss psychologist
who extensively studied how children think, would
have suggested that this example of play is reflective
of the children’s experiences and interactions with
their environment. In his study of children and devel-
opment, Piaget described play as a ‘‘child’s work.’’
Holding views similar to Piaget’s is Francis
Wardle, an author and instructor at the University of
Phoenix (Colorado), who defines play as ‘‘child-
centered learning.’’ Play then, is a natural, child-
directed way for children to learn new concepts and
to develop new skills that will provide the basis for
success in future settings.
The Importance of Play
Through play, children learn the skills necessary
to effectively participate in their world through play.
Play provides children with natural opportunities to
engage in concrete and meaningful activities that en-
hance physical, language, social, and cognitive devel-
opment. During play, children increase their
knowledge and understanding of self, others, and the
physical world around them.
A child’s motor development becomes increas-
ingly more refined through the physical activity that
play naturally provides. Through the manipulation of
toys and materials, children develop small motor
skills. Large motor skills are developed as a child
runs, climbs, and throws a ball.
Play is also important for the development of
children’s language skills. Children experiment with
language during play and use words to express their
thoughts and ideas. As children become more sophis-
ticated in their play skills, their language develop-
ment becomes equally sophisticated. Children use
language during play to solve problems and to com-
municate their desires.
During play, children are provided with opportu-
nities for social interaction with peers. Children learn
the importance of social rules and how to get along
with others through play. It is during this social inter-
action that children learn to express and control their
emotions and to resolve conflicts with others.
As children are encouraged to explore and ma-
nipulate objects and materials in their environment,
cognitive skills are developed and challenged. Chil-
dren gain confidence as they experience fun and suc-
cess in play. This increased confidence encourages
children to further explore their world and to seek
out even more challenging activities. Ideas and con-
cepts expressed by children during play increase and
become more complex as their play skills increase
and become more complex.Elements of Children’s Play
Depending upon the materials involved in play
and the level of the child’s development, individual
experiences, and personality, children will demon-
strate a variety of play skills. Children’s play skills can
be described as having social and cognitive elements.
The social elements are identified as solitary, parallel,
or social play. The cognitive elements of play are de-
scribed as being sensorimotor, pretend, constructive,
mastery, or games with rules. Table 1 provides a sum-
mary of the elements of play and the typical age at
which they might be noted or observed.
The social elements of play describe the amount
of social interaction that the child is engaged in,
whereas the cognitive elements describe the complex-
ity of the child’s play skills. Social and cognitive play
elements are interrelated and will often overlap. Chil-
dren may demonstrate several social and cognitive el-
ements during one play activity.Social Elements of Play
Solitary play is simply that—play that a child en-
gages in alone. The child is totally absorbed in the ac-
tivity and is not reliant upon the actions or words of
others. Examples of solitary play include an infant
shaking a rattle in her crib and a preschooler quietly
looking at a book by herself. Children of all ages en-
gage in solitary play.
Parallel play differs from solitary play in that the
child is observant of others. Children are engaged in
parallel play when they play side-by-side, using the310 PLAY