Different types of play

Play for children means having fun but that’s not all it entails. It is crucial to the developmental growth of babies and children. It can also mean different things to different people. Some children love reading while others love building lego or playing board games. Play is individual to each child or baby.

Ther are five main categories of play. These include physical play, social play, constructive play, fantasy play and games with rules. Within that play can be broken down into may  There are many different categories of play including:

Creative play

This type of play allows children to use their imaginations and try out new things. It encourages intellectual development and strengthens fine motor/manipulative skills. Included in the creative play category are activities like baking and cooking, drawing, painting, and arts and crafts.

Role Play

This is a really important type of play. It allows children to explore themselves, who they are, and allows them to use their imaginations. It could as simple as playing Mums and Dads or pretending they are a prince or princess in a castle, the sky is the limit!

Rough and Tumble play

If you want children to use up a lot of excess energy then this is the type pf play you need! This allows children to discover their physical strength in a (hopefully) fun and friendly way.

Object Play

Play which uses sequences of hand-eye manipulations and movements, like using a paintbrush. Or playing a skilled sport like golf, rugby, hurling or hockey.

Fantasy Play

This is the make-believe world of children and can involve role-play. This allows the child’s imagination gets to run wild, and they get to play out things that are unlikely to occur, like being an astronaut.

Playing House

Is also called socio-dramatic play where children act out real-life experiences. For example, copying what their parents do at home or pretending to go out to a restaurant for dinner. It can be playing school and copying what their teacher does. This is a really important type of play and encourages empathy in a child. It can also be quite scary to see how close their play is to their parents in real life!

There are many other types of play and while play can encourage development and learning in children, ultimately play should be for enjoyment and recreation so have fun!

By SureSitter