play

• Play


  A physical or mental leisure activity that is undertaken purely for enjoyment or amusement and has no other objective
• Characteristics of playful behaviour

  • Functional approach: Play does not have an external goal
  • Structural approach: Describes behaviours that only occur in play, may be repeated, exaggerated, fragmented or reordered
  • Play signals (e.g. relaxed open-mouth face)
• Play criteria


  • Flexibility
  • Positive affect
  • Non-literality
  • Intrinsic motivation (did not correlate with play judgments)
• Types of play

  1. Physical activity play (rhythmical stereotypies, exercise play, rough and tumble play)

  2. Play with objects (play vs exploration, solitary or social)

  3. Pretend play (early stages, decentration, decontextualisation)

  4. Socio-dramatic play (scripts, role in emotional regulation)

  5. Games with rules (transition from play is gradual)

  6. Language play
• Pretend play allows a child to separate the meaning / concept from a concrete object
• Pretend play


  Linked to imaginative thinking and theory of mind development
• Pretend play may be helpful for Theory of Mind but only as part of other experiences
• Experimental studies on the benefits of play

  1. Deprivation studies (ethical issues, limited to physical activity play)

  2. Enrichment studies (socio-dramatic play training improved frequency and complexity of pretence and Theory of Mind)
• Models of the role of play in development

  • Epiphenomenal (play has no particular role, just a by-product)
  • Equifinality (play is one of a number of ways a child can learn, useful but not essential)
  • Essential (play is essential for many aspects of development, 'play ethos')
• Studying play is important for understanding cognitive, social and emotional development in children, and has practical implications for policy and intervention