• Apprenticeship – learning about the world and how things are done e.g., copying dad sweeping the floor
• Experimentation – puzzling things out  e.g., pouring sand from one container into another and watching it overflow
• Soothing and distracting (play is, by definition, enjoyable)
• Recreational
• Facilitating development (including sensory)

• physical (sensory and gross/ fine motor)
• intellectual
• language
• social/emotional - identity and belonging
• morality (learning about right and wrong- fair/ unfair play)

• Imitative – copy the actions of others
• Constructive – creating by putting things together
• Pretend
• Games with Rules
• Manipulative/ skilful play
• Small world – miniatures of the real thing like cars on a mat, doll houses, etc.
• Active

• Provide play opportunities of the different types.  Children need all of the different kinds of play in order to benefit in all of the developmental areas. 

• Promote the growth of independence.  Allow your child to lead play activities and mirror their actions.  This lets your child know that you are paying attention and that his actions are important.  Let him try things out even if he is not getting it right - that’s how we learn.

• Recognise achievement where achievement is difficult.  Learning to catch is hard work and fun.  Sometimes a child’s success is slow and we can be so anxious to help out that it can come across as criticism.  Praise her for trying and keep encouraging her.

• Offering some opportunities to expand the play (e.g., extend and introduce language, ideas.)  Resist the temptation to get too involved and lead the play.  Too much information gets lost and too much involvement pushes the child away.  Extend your child’s play by one step at a time.  For example, if he drinks from a play tea cup, model pouring from a tea pot and then drinking from the cup.  When he can do the two steps, add a third.  Do the same for language.  If he says “cup” with the tea cup, you might add “cup drink.”  Just go one step at  time.

• Allow adequate and safe space

• Developmentally- appropriate resources (not necessarily commercial ‘toys’.)  Boxes of all sizes, wax paper to crinkle, and pots and pans to bang are great toys!

• Aim for creating PROCESS play rather than PRODUCT play.  The product is the end result like a painting or arrangement of furniture in doll’s house.  The process is how the child gets to the end product.  Generally, the process is far more important because that is where the child is experimenting, using and hearing language, and having her attempts at solving a problem (e.g. where to put the bath tub) validated rather than criticized.  Children need to do a lot of processing before they achieve noteworthy products so we need to encourage that process.

• After the first few weeks of life, the child is able to lift her head and if laid on the stomach can look around.
• Responds to mobiles, lights, sounds and faces by smiling
• Will grasp any small object places high in the palm, but will drop when not interested
• Can only focus on objects about 8 – 10 inches away from face
• At 2 months, like to play naked, to kick out unhampered by clothes
• Enjoys playing with rattles, squeaky toys and balls  

• 3 months

• Explores hands
• Can follow a moving object with eyes
• Will try to swipe at a toy shown to him

• Child drops toy to have adult return it.  Child smiles and drops toy again
• Enjoys splashing in bath
• Rolls from stomach to back
• Can reach for and grasp object

• Discovers feet
• Brings feet up and touches with his hands

6 months

• Concentrates more
• Objects go to the mouth for exploration
• Begins to build blocks
• Transfers objects from hand to hand and to mouth
• Sits

7 months

• Child can hold 2 objects, one in each hand simultaneously
• Child passes toy from one hand to the other with voluntary hand release

• Can sit steadily on the floor, stretching out in all directions for desired toys
• Can reach for objects without falling over
• Differentiates between familiar people and strangers
• Crawling to get around
• Uses thumb and finger grasp
• Can bang 2 objects together

• Watches objects fall and looks for them
• Throws objects to see, hear and feel the results of the action
• Enjoys producing noises from toys
• Concentrates on one toy at a time

• The child crawls towards a desired object and reaches for it
• Likes to watch and listen to familiar adults
• Memory improves

• Crawls everywhere to explore
• Can carry 2 objects simultaneously
• Trying to take steps

• Kitchen becomes very interesting, likes to watch everyday routines
• Can grasp a pencil and make marks on paper
• Give and take play begins
• Demonstrates knowledge of what objects are for (e.g. brushes own hair)
• Shows interest in books
• Plays hide and seek games

• Plays with food instead of feeding self
• Likes to play with real objects (e.g. dust pan and brush)
• Does not realise that dolls represent real people
• Enjoys sensory play (e.g. water, sand, clay)

17 – 19 months

• Pushes, pulls and carries in games
• Becomes interested in small objects (opening, tearing, throwing away, putting
• objects inside of others)
• Can link toys together (e.g. Duplo)
• Can push trolley toys with great skill (sideways, backwards, etc)
• Plays with simple educational toys (e.g. blocks, cars, pegs, inset puzzles)

20 – 22 months

• Wants to get in and out of objects
• Integrates sight, sound and motor activities well (e.g. hammering)
• Experiments with clay, but does not produce anything
• Dolls become ‘real’ and get fed and put to bed
• Beginning to understand that a pretend car represents a real car
• Child is not able to understand sharing or turn taking
• Has no consideration of others

• Start to play at mommys and daddys
• Kicks, throws and catches a ball
• Can do simple jigsaws
• Constructive skills improve
• Tries to paint pictures of real objects (people and houses)
• Appreciates educational toys

• Very interested in jigsaws
• Interested in music making
• Wants to play with others
• Beginning to understand about sharing and considering others
• Gross motor skills well developed

• Enjoys rhymes, riddles, simple jokes and stories
• Enjoys make believe games and dressing up