PLAY

PREPARED BY:
K. JYOTHI RANI
NURSING TUTOR
APOLLO COLLEGE OF NURSING
HYDERABAD
PLAY IN CHILDREN
Play is children’s work. It is an activity where child
shows the ability for exploration, imagination, and
decision making. Hughes (2003) states three criteria to
define play:
• Freedom of choice
• Personal enjoyment
• Focus is on the activity itself rather than its outcomes
These three criteria are fundamental to the play process
and in connecting children’s development with their
learning. They engage in and their characteristics
changes through the different stages of development.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PLAY
•Self-directed
•Self-selected
•Open-ended
•Voluntary
•Enjoyable
•Flexible
•Motivating
•Individual or group
IMPORTANCE OF PLAY
Play is essential to development because it contributes
to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-
being of children and youth
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• Play stimulates the brain through the formation of
connections between nerve cells. This process helps
with the development of fine and gross motor skills.
• Active play helps in muscle development and physical
growth.
• Play increases range of motion, coordination, balance,
flexibility, and fine and gross motor skills by jumping,
dancing, riding cycles.
• Sensory development occurs through tactile, visual,
auditory stimulation derived from playing with
different toys.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Play reduces fear, anxiety, stress, irritability
• Creates joy, intimacy, self-esteem, and mastery
• Improves emotional flexibility and openness
• Increases calmness, resilience and adaptability, and
ability to deal with surprise and change
• Play can heal emotional pain.
• Develops confidence through experiencing success in
play.
• Helps to control emotion and reduce impulsive
behavior.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Helps in realization of self and others.
• Increases empathy, compassion, and sharing.
• Creates options and choices.
• Models relationships based on inclusion rather than
exclusion.
• Improves nonverbal skills.
• Increases attention and attachment.
• Helps learning negotiation skills.
• Make believe play allows child to understand different
roles.
INTELLECTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
• Learns colors, shapes, sizes through playing with
various objects.
• Identifies letters, common words, symbols, signs with
their meaning by solving puzzles.
• Increases listening and speaking ability by storytelling
activity.
• Improves writing skills through scribbling, painting,
and drawing activity.
• Books and videos increase vocabulary.
• Learns problem solving skills through games and
puzzles.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
• Learns, which behaviors are acceptable and which are
not.
• Understands importance of taking turns and honesty.
• Recognizes importance of teamwork.
CREATIVITY
• Express their imagination power through various play
activity.
• Exercise their creative ideas by playing with paper,
play dough and raw materials, etc.
• Pretend play increases their creativity.
• Creative thinking occurs in group activity.
THERAPEUTIC VALUE
• Play can relieve stress and anxiety.
• It diverts pain in a sick child.
• Play helps in explain various concepts, procedures to
child like demonstrating injection to a doll.
• Through various play activity, parents can understand
their child’s need, fear, area of low confidence, etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLAY
Children’s play range from simple physical play with
objects such as baby rattles to more complex cognitive
play in games with many rules such as cards or chess.
Play can be classified according to social participation
in play, cognitive involvement and combination of both
social and cognitive characteristics.
A. Types of play according to level of
social participation
Parten (1932) observed children’s social behavior
during play and developed a continuum showing levels
of children’s participation in social play, which includes
types of play according to social participation.
1. UNOCCUPIED PLAY
1. UNOCCUPIED PLAY
In the early months of infancy, from birth to about 3
months, the child is busy in unoccupied play. Children
seem to be making random movements with no clear
purpose, but this is the initial form of playing with least
social involvement.
2. SOLITARY PLAY
2. SOLITARY PLAY
From 3 to 18 months, babies will spend much of their
time playing on their own. During solitary play,
children are very busy in playing with own toys and
they may not seem to notice other children sitting or
playing nearby. They are exploring their world by
watching, grabbing and rattling objects. Solitary play
begins in infancy and is continue in toddlers.
3. ONLOOKER PLAY
3. ONLOOKER PLAY
Onlooker play happens most often during the toddler
years. This is where the child “ watches other children
play. Children are learning how to relate to others and
learning language. Although children may ask
questions to other children, there is no effort to join the
play.
4. PARALLEL PLAY
4. PARALLEL PLAY
From the age of 18 months to 2 years, children begin to
play alongside other children without any interaction.
This is called parallel play. They begin to show their need
of being with other children of their own age. They are
observant of others and may copy how others are playing
but seldom interact with them. They are playing beside
them rather than with them. Parallel play is usually found
with toddlers, although it happens in any age group.
5. ASSOCIATIVE PLAY
5. ASSOCIATIVE PLAY
Preschoolers become more interested in other children than the
toys. Child starts to socialize with other children. This play is
sometimes referred to as “loosely organized play.” Associative play
helps the preschooler learn the do’s and don’ts of getting along
with others. Associative play teaches the art of sharing, encourages
language development, problem-solving skills and cooperation. In
associative play, groups of children have similar goals. They do not
set rules, although they all want to be playing with the same types
of toys and may even trade toys. There is no formal organization.
6. COOPERATIVE PLAY
6. COOPERATIVE PLAY
It is common in preschool and school age children. As their
social and emotional development matures, children play
cooperatively with others. Their play has an organized
structure and children will communicate with each other as
they work together towards a common goal, They have
division of labour, team formation with various roles. In this
play stage, children learn respect for others property, realize
they may need permission to use others toys, and are more
willing to share their toys.
B. Types of play according to cognitive
involvement
Smilansky (1968) builds on Piaget’s stages, defining
characteristics of the four stages of cognitive play:
1. FUNCTIONAL/PRACTICE PLAY
1. FUNCTIONAL/PRACTICE PLAY
When children run, jump, and play games such as hide
and seek and tag they engage in physical play. Physical
play offers a chance for children to exercise and
develop muscle strength. This play teaches various
physical and social skills. The child will learn to take
turns and accept winning or losing.
2. CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY
2. CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY
In this type of play, children create things. Constructive
play starts in infancy and becomes more complex as the
child grows. This type of play starts with the baby
putting things in his/her mouth to see how they feel and
taste. As a toddler, children begin building with blocks,
playing in sand, and drawing.
Constructive play allows children to explore objects
and discover patterns to find what works and what
does not work. Children gain pride when
accomplishing a task during constructive play.
Children who gain confidence manipulating objects
become good at creating ideas and working with
numbers and concepts.
3. DRAMATIC/PRETEND PLAY
3. DRAMATIC/PRETEND PLAY
Children learn to try new roles and situations,
experiment with languages and emotions with pretend
play. Children learn to think and create beyond their
world. They assume adult roles and learn to think in
abstract methods. Children stretch their imaginations
and use new words and numbers to express concepts,
dreams and, history thus improving language,
vocabulary, a and memory abilities.
It has three elements such as one or more object, theme
and roles. When children play teacher-student game
(theme), use books as objects and they assume teacher
and student role.
4. GAME WITH RULES
4. GAME WITH RULES
When children move from a self-centered world to an
understanding of the importance of social contracts and
rules, they begin to play games with rules. It is usually
played by more than one person and not common
before 4 years of age. In these children accepts
predetermined rules to play games such as card games,
and various sports. Games with rules teach children the
concept that life has rules that everyone must follow.
C. Type of play according to
combination of both cognitive
and social character
SOCIO-DRAMATIC PLAY
SOCIO-DRAMATIC PLAY
Socio-dramatic play is most typical of 3, 4, and 5-year-
old children. In this type of play, children represent
their growing understanding of the world through their
body language, spontaneous oral language, and vivid
imagination. Socio-dramatic play relates strongly to
children’s cognitive and social abilities. It offers tich
opportunities for children to:
• Develop abstract thinking
• Refine their understandings about the world
• Solve problems in a safe context
• Have a sense of control over what they experience or
are doing
• Learn how to relate to their peers in a positive way
STRUCTURE OF PLAY
Every play has several main components.

1. Play motive : This is the reason for playing. e.g.,

pleasure .
2. Play idea : Children name the idea when they
discuss what to play: “Let’s play at mothers,”
“Let’s play at ship.
3. Play plot : It is a sequence of episodes that are
related to the play idea (The mother wakes her
baby, she makes breakfast, she dresses the child, she
goes for a walk with other mothers, she goes
shopping, she makes dinner...).
4. Play content : It includes all real actions and play
relationships. Playing “at ship” children could let
paper boats sail in water.
5. Role : The role is performing the actions and
relationships of a man according to his social
position.
6. Play actions : Play actions represent real actions.
They depend on the role (the actions of the mother
are feeding the child, dressing him, bathing...).
7. Play operations : Play operations are the real
movements of the player. For example the action is
feeding the baby, The operation is to give the bottle
to the baby.
8. Rules: The rules define the actions of players and
the sanctions for those who break the rules.
9. Imaginary situation : The Imaginary situation is a
fantastic moment in a play. The child can use the
chair as a car.
PLAY SAFETY
Selection of Safe and Suitable Toys
Choose Age-Appropriate Toys
Choose toys according to the interests, needs and
abilities at different stages of a child’s development and
that can be washed and that are flame-retardant or
resistant and contains nontoxic materials.
• 0-6 months : Toys that can be chewed, sucked, and
tugged. Toys should be big enough so the baby
cannot fit it all in his or her mouth.
• 6months1 year: Toys that are strong, easily cleaned,
and with no detachable parts.
• 2-3 years : Toys to develop a child’s coordination.
• 3-5 years : Toys that are used for imaginative games.
• 5-7 years : Toys that involve action and imagination.

• 7-10 years : Children follow their own interests.

Types of play materials for different age group
Infancy:
Types of play:
• Unoccupied play
• Solitary play
• Games like peak a boo, hide and seek
• 0-6 weeks:

Colorful hanging toys

Musical toys

Rattles
• 2-4 months:

Bright colored toys

Soft washable toys

Rubber toys,
Rattles
• 5-7 months:

Squeeze toys
Rattles

Chewable toys
Teething rings,
Infant swings
• 7-9 months:

Movable toys
Mirror toys

Sponge toys
Wooden blocks
Large balls
• 9-12 months:

Nested boxes and

cups
Toys to fill and
spill
Walker

String of big beads

Toddler:
Types of play:
• Solitary play
• Parallel play
• Pretend play
• 12-18 months:

Wooden blocks
Push pull toys

Sorting and nesting toys

Balls
Crayon and paper
• 18-24 months:

Toy kitchen
Picture books

Train set
Blocks
Puzzles
• 24-30 months:

Ride on toys
Percussive instruments
toys
Construction toys and
puzzles
• 30-36 months:

Puzzles
Board or memory games

Child size kitchen items

Books
Outdoor games like
swings
Preschooler:
Types of play:
• Associative play
• Cooperative play
• Pretend play
• Constructive play
• Socio dramatic play
Puppets

Dress up cloths for dolls

Doctor set

Blocks
Modelling clay
Tricycle

Outdoor games like

swings, seesaw, sliding
boards
School Age:
Types of play:
• Cooperative play
• Socio dramatic play
• Games with rules
Table game

Board games
Doll accessories

Chess
Outdoor games like
bicycle, jumping rope,
climbing trees, collecting
cards or stamps
Watch for Toy Dangers

Sharp edges and sharp points : Avoid toys with sharp

points or edges that can hurt a small child. Stuffed toys
may have wires inside that will stick out if the toy
comes apart. Avoid giving toys with metal parts to
toddlers and babies. Buy washable, non-breakable toys
for babies.
Small toys and toys with small parts : Check toys
regularly for loose parts, which may be choking
dangers. Anything small enough to fit into a 35-mm
film canister can choke a child less than 3 years of age.
Check stuffed animals for eyes, noses and parts that
can come off. Put small toys and toys with small parts
out of reach when young ones are around. Soft baby
toys should be large enough that they cannot be
swallowed even when they are squashed down.
Cords and strings: Toys with long cords or strings can
be harmful for babies and very young children. They
can get wrapped around a child’s neck. Never hang
toys with strings, cords or ribbons in cribs or playpens.

Loud noises : Toys that make shrill or loud noise, such

as toy cap guns, can damage child’s hearing. Read
warning labels for how to use them safely. Try toys in
the store to check how loud they are.
Toys that fly or shoot objects: Keep air rockets and other
shooting toys that can cause serious eye injuries away from
young children. Arrows used by children should have soft
tips made from cork or rubber.

Electric toys : Charge battery-powered toys for young

children. Chargers and adapters that come with toys can
shock or burn. Buy toys with battery compartments that
are sealed or need a screwdriver to open. Button batteries
can cause burns and other serious injuries if swallowed.
Toys with magnets: Young children should not play with
toys with magnets. Check magnetic toys for loose and
separable magnets. If magnets are swallowed, they may
cause blockage of the digestive system resulting in Serious
injury.
Read instructions: Read the labelling on new toys. he
suitable for children aged under 3 means that there are
small parts which could be swallowed; it is not an
indication Of skill level or intelligence. Explain the
instructions to the child .
Play safe outdoors: Make sure children use helmets
and other safety equipment when biking, skating, or
riding skateboards and scooters. Children must wear a
helmet when riding a motor bike. Ensure that ride-on
toys are appropriate to the age of the child and are
stable. Make sure children always wear shoes when
playing outside.
Check for other potential hazards: Toy chests and
boxes should have a removable lid. Anything big
enough to crawl inside must have ventilation holes,
including tents. Helmets and masks must also have
ventilation holes. Check that there are no gaps or holes
which could trap a child’s fingers. Never give adult
jewellery to children. Adult jewellery can contain high
levels of lead.
Storage and Maintenance of Play Materials

Store toys in a safe place :

Put all toys away and off the floor when they are not
being used. If using a toy chest, it should have air holes
and be easy to open from the inside. Check that the lid
has a support that will hold the lid open in any
position. Preferably use baskets or boxes without lids to
store toys.
Check toys often for damage:

Watch for splinters or sharp edges on wooden toys.

Sand them when needed. If repaint toys, use new paint;
old paint may contain lead. Check outdoor toys for
rust. Check all toys at regular interval for any
removable parts. If a toy cannot be fixed, throw it
away. Check toys with magnets to make sure no
magnets are loose or missing.
Others:

Throw away plastic wrap and other packaging right

away. Throw away broken balloons and put away
deflated balloons. Check electrical cord of plug of toys
for cracked or frying parts.
Supervision
• Provide a safe and supervised play environment.
• Supervise young children during play.

• Establish rules for games.

• Keep the children away from furniture, high places,
staircase, fireplace and water body while playing.
• Teach the children about toy safety, wearing safety
apparels.