Chapter Four
The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Categories of Social Play
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Solitary Play: Child plays in his or her own world, even if
surrounded by other children
Onlooker Play: Child simply watches others at play
Parallel Play: Children play separately in the same activity,
time, and place
Associative Play: Child is focused on a separate activity, but
now there is sharing, lending, taking turns, attending to
activities of peers, and communication
Cooperative Play: Two or more children engage in a play
activity with a common goal
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Play That Declines from 2 to 5
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Solitary Play
Onlooker Play
Parallel Play
Sensory Play
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Play That Increases from 2 to 5
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Cooperative Play
Group Play
Make-Believe Play
Small Muscle Play
Product-Oriented Play
Realistic Play
Play Involving Identification with Adults
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Dramatic Play Roles
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Family Roles (Most Popular)
Functional Roles
Character Roles
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Dramatic Play Themes
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The need for Protection
The need for Power
The Need to Attack and Destroy
In all areas the key is balance
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Functions of Dramatic Play
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Simple Imitation of Adults
Intensification of a Child’s Real-Life Role
Reflection of Home Life and Relationships
Expression of Pressing Needs
Outlet for Forbidden Impulses
Role Reversal
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Factors That Influence Preschool Play
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Security of attachment. The most secure
children are more likely to:
Explore the physical environment
 Discover the properties of objects
 Use objects in appropriate ways
 Engage in constructive and problem-solving play
 Engage in fantasy play with objects
 Be more sociable and engage in toddler games
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Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Family Stress
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Children from families that have experienced
divorce are:
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Less likely to play
Less likely to engage in dramatic play
Less flexible in pretense themes
More reliant on props in fantasy play
More likely to engage in solitary and parallel play
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Age of Playmates
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Same age
 More
positive affect
 More verbal interaction
 More cooperative dramatic play
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With older child
 More
imitation
 More cooperative constructive play
 Drawn into social interaction
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With younger child
 More
leadership opportunities
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Familiarity With Playmates
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Stable consistent peer interaction results in:
Greater social competence
 Greater likelihood of peer acceptance
 More mature cooperative play
 More, and more complex, dramatic play
 Better social organization
 Better collaboration, concentration, enthusiasm
 Less school-related anxiety in kindergarten
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Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Sex of Playmate
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With same sex:
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More likely to explore new play materials
Less likely to focus on familiar toys
More likely to engage in “gender-stereotyped”
play
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Specific Play Materials
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Open-ended creative materials lead to less dramatic play
Art construction materials lead to constructive but non-social
play
Dress-up props and miniature life toys produce dramatic play
Divergent materials produce creative play
Unstructured toys produce more varied and more inventive
play
Too many toys reduces social interaction
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Nutrition
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Severe malnutrition over time can result in:
Lowered level of activity in school
 Increased difficulty staying on task
 Decreased social involvement
 Poorer standardized test performance
 Reduced overall amounts of play
 An especially negative impact on make-believe
play
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Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
The Physical Environment
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Before 1900 playgrounds didn’t exist
By 1916, 3000 playgrounds in 500 American
cities
Early playgrounds were fenced–in paved
areas with stationary equipment such as
slides, jungle gyms and seesaws
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
How Do Children Play in Traditional
Playgrounds?
Mostly physical play
 Very little fantasy play
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E.g., Dramatic play never observed on swings
 E.g., Dramatic play accounts for about 5% of play
on slides, sandbox, jungle gym
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Reduced amount of social play
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E.g., Less than 20% of play on swings could be
called “social”
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five
Non-Traditional Playgrounds
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Tubes, tunnels, enclosures that resemble houses or
“forts”
More than half the play involves social interaction
One in four play episodes includes social fantasy
themes
Children are brought together and encouraged to use
their creative imaginations
Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition
Chapter 4: The Preschool Years: From Two to Five