The 6 Stages of Play and Why You Need to be Aware of It?

According to a theory developed by Mildred Parten, an American researcher who observed the social participation of nursery and preschool children in free play, there are six stages of play that children go through from birth to preschool age.

1. Unoccupied Play (Birth – 3 months)

Mostly are random movements made by infants. This type of play lacks purpose and objectives but is important for developmental purposes. For example, baby moving their hands and kicking their legs.

2. Solitary Play (Around 3 months – 2 1/2 years old.)

During this type of play, children will often play alone, uninterested in what other children are doing. The child would play with his own toys and do his own activity without reference to others.

3. Onlooker Play (2 – 3 ½ years old)

Children start to show interest in other people. They would listen and observe other children playing but would not involve themselves in the play.

4. Parallel Play (2 ½ – 3 ½ years old)

There’s little interaction between children during this type of play. They might play next to each other, sharing some toys but they are not playing with each other. The child does not participate in other children’s play.

5. Associative Play (Around 3 – 4 years old.)

Children would play together but the play is less organized. Their play would be a common activity but no common goals. The children would interact with each other about their play. For example, children playing blocks together, but they are building their own building. They may talk and give suggestions to the other to build a house but the other is free to decide if they want to or not.

6. Cooperative Play (Around 4 – 6 years old.)

The most social and organized type of play. Children would play together, and their play would have common goals and objectives. More teamwork can be observed. Pretend plays or formal games with a set of rules are common in this type of play. For example: pretend play of running a restaurant, there will be assigned roles of a cook, waiters and customers or playing formal games.

The age range for each type of play is a rough estimate, a child can still go through each stage earlier or later than their age depending on their exposure to social play. Also, these types of play can be seen depends on the circumstances. For instance, if a child is already in the cooperative play stage does not mean he would not be playing alone (solitary play) at all. It just means that in a free play, group setting with older children, the cooperative play would be more common to be seen among the children.

Why are the 6 stages of play important to children?

A child needs to be able to reach the sixth stage of play which is cooperative play because it is the social skills that are needed for children to be a team members and able to work together with others for school or sports. The reason for this is that in cooperative play, children should be able to interact with others, express opinions and ideas, listen to other people’s thoughts, make compromises, learns to share and taking turns. When children discuss their play, it also helps children to see things from a different perspective and helps them progress in their thinking skills. These skills are a lifelong social skill that helps children to navigate themselves with other people and be more adaptable in this world.