5 Types of Play that Help Boost your Child’s Development

You might think that ‘play’ is simply ‘play’. However, the way your toddler decides to play says a lot about his personality. The different types of play also encourage different types of social and developmental skills. Here’s a list of the top 5 types of play and how it boosts your child’s development.

1. Independent Play

Independent play is when your child plays by themselves. They will often find unique and imaginative ways of entertaining themselves.

They Learn:
How to keep themselves busy and how to become self-sufficient.

2. Onlooker Play

Onlooker play refers to your child simply observing others while they play, while they’ll not necessarily partake in the action themselves. This is common with children who are still developing their vocabulary.

They learn:
In many cases, they do this because they need to learn the rules of playing or they prefer taking a step back for a while and get comfortable in the setting or situation before partaking.

3. Parallel Play

Parallel play refers to the type of play where two toddlers who are similar in age are next to each other, but they both play separately. In this type of play, toddlers are curious and intrigued by this other human being who is very much like themselves.

They Learn:
How to keep themselves busy and how to become self-sufficient.

4. Associative Play

Associative play is when your toddlers engage in the same activity and start working together. During associative play, your toddler engages actively with the other toddlers.

They learn:
This is super important when it comes to your child’s development. They learn valuable socialising skills and figure out how to cooperate, language development and problem-solving.

5. Physical Play

Encourage your little one to go outside, run around, kick a ball and use their imagination to get those endorphins flowing.

They learn:
With physical play your child develops their gross and fine motor skills. Staying active also helps your child stay healthy and encourages group-play where your child will learn how to be part of a team and work together.