Explain The Five Social Stages Of Play

There are five social stages of play. The first stage is onlooker play. This is seen when a child watches other children play but does not interact or play with them. The second stage is solitary play. During this stage, children will play alone without interacting with other. Children can also play side by side, and in some instances, may even be playing with the same toys, but never interact with each other. This type of play is called parallel play. Some children may play side by side, interact with each other and use the same materials, but never really commit to a joint focus. These children will be engaging in what is called Associative play. It is not until children come up with a common goal and focus as group can we consider there …show more content…
Three categories to be exact. The first of these is functional play. This is the primary stage of play, mostly seen in children ages zero to two. This type of play usually involves children using their senses to interact with objects and people. This type of play is also repetitive. Children engaging in this type of play will often do things repeatedly. This type of play is seen when a finishes and puzzle and then dumps the puzzle out. It can also be seen when an infant repeatedly shakes a rattle or constantly lifts the flap in a peek-a-boo book. The next type of play is symbolic play. This type of play is slip into two different categories. The first category is constructive play. This type of play involves children representing different objects out of toys. This type of play is seen when a child puts sphere shaped metal ball on the top of a long magnet and says it is an ice cream cone or when they take a long block and use it as a phone. The second type of play in this category is dramatic play. This is when children create imaginary roles in which they pretend to be someone else. This is seen when a group of students play in the dramatic play area and pretend they are in a restaurant or when they are at the sand table and pretend they are archeologist digging for dinosaur bones. The last type of play is games with rules. This type of play involves children understanding and agreeing on a set of rules for a game that they come up with. This type of play is seen when a group of after schoolers are playing four square and determine how many points they receive each time they hit the ball on the