OK, T -2 hours to PEDs exam. Who knew learning about playing could be so stressful (ha ha, JK…I’m totally doing summersaults in my bedroom!! Weeee, bonk.)
Seriously though, it is kind of interesting how play develops in kids and how important it is for their development. My favorite stage is probably between the ages of 3-4 called Parallel Play (basically, they like to be around one another…imitate each other and such…but play separately —> alone together 🙂 ) How about some other landmarks at this time to get those synapses a-firin’:
Totally have had coffee today…just not in canvas cup form 😉
Here are the 6 stages of play:
1) Unoccupied behavior (0-12 months) –> Give them babes some alone time, its self directed and random..think sensory toys
2) Solitary Play (12-2 years) –> May check back to see if mom is watching, like to imitate routines such as play shaving w/ dad or talking on the phone. Gross motor, fine motor, and speech toys are the thing here!
3) Onlooker Behavior (18 – 2 years) –> Watching peers, making suggestions, MY WAY or the highway stage (a 2 year old being obstinatnte …. naaaah 😉 ) Try fantasy and make believe toys in preeschool
4) Parallel Play (3-4 y/o) –> My fave
5) Associative play (4-6 y/o) –> Start to share and play with other kiddos, small group play but for the most part kids have their own goals
6) Cooperative Play (7-8 y/o) –> Kids playing and working together with common goals: TAG (you’re it), cops and robbers, or in my case Paleontology Dig Okinawa (man we used to find SOOO many “dino bones”)
Bonus: Who can guess this time frame
awww, dang…I wrote it on there. 36 – 41 months. Well, there you have it walking up/down stairs w/o help and riding that trike…fun times.
A Cup A Day 