Social Play Essay

2.5.2 Social play

Social play is defined as play that occurs in the interaction of children with caregivers or other children. Typically, social play is not classified as a unique category of play because any type of play – object play, pretend play, and physical play – has the potential to be enacted alone or with others (Tarman & Tarman, 2011).

White (2012) in her study “the power of play” explains that interactions within play scenarios, however, provide great benefits to children whether their partners are adults or peers, and are therefore worthy of note.

In her study which focused on how children can benefit from play and imagination in early childhood, she notes that with age and increasingly mature social capacities, children’s interactive

Parallel play: From the age of 18 months to two years, children begin to play alongside other children without any interaction. This is called parallel play. Parallel play provides your toddler with opportunities for role-playing such as dressing up and pretending. It also helps children gain the understanding of the idea of property right such as “mine.” They begin to show their need of being with other children their own age. Parallel play is usually found with toddlers, although it happens in any age group.

Associative play: When children are around three to four years of age, they become more interested in other children than the toys. The child starts to socialize with other children. This play is sometimes referred to as “loosely organized play.” Associative play helps the pre-schooler 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

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.

Cooperative play: Cooperative play begins in the late preschool period. The play is organized by group goals. There is at least one leader, and children are definitely in or out of the group. When children move from a self-centred world to an understanding of the importance of social contracts and rules, they begin to play games with rules. Part of this development occurs when they learn games such as “Follow the Leader”, “Kibet Says”, and “team sports”.

Dramatic play requires children to impose details, information and meaning into their play. Dramatic play structures should be very simple and basic in design and construction. A basic structure of four walls, a roof, and a window can be the children’s home, a classroom, a doctor’s office, or a castle. On the other hand, a realistic replica of a 7-11 convenience store can only be a 7-11 and a rocket can only be a rocket (Lawrence,