As an interdisciplinary field, play can quickly get complicated. In fact, the topic of play happens to be so nuanced that developmental psychologists, evolutionary psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and even neuroscientists study play...

Good thing you’ve stumbled here— I happen to be a Certified Play Expert with over a decade of play experience! This post will introduce you to common types of play and how each type of play supports childhood development. You'll leave here with a much clearer understanding of how kids play, along with toys that complement each type of play.

First, we'll go over a few main types of play: free play, guided play, and competitive play. During free play a kid can take part in many other forms of play. We'll look at some of the most common subcategories, including: dramatic play, physical play, pretend play, constructive play, nature play, and creative play. Next, we'll turn to guided play and it's subcategory, sensory play. Lastly, we'll go over competitive play and games.

✨ Free Play 

Free Play is centered on unstructured time for kids to play– it’s child-initiated and child-led, with little to no adult intervention. Free play is intrinsically motivated and encourages kids to try things out through trial and error,  

When a child engages in free play alone, they’re left to use their imagination with the toys or objects that they have open access to. Solitary free play can be easily confused with independent play. Independent play tends to involve more structured activities with less open range. 

Examples: Kids might make up their own games, create imaginary worlds, or come up with other elaborate ideas– but, they’re the ones in charge of what and how to play. Caregivers may supervise from a distance or stay within earshot of the child or Children, only stepping in if necessary. 

Developmental Skills: Problem solving, language development, coordination 

Teaches: Autonomy, sharing, cooperation 

Dramatic Play

Dramatic play involves kids exploring different roles and scenarios as they expand their understanding of the world and themselves. 

‍♀️ Physical Play

Also referred to as active play, physical play is all about movement. It involves both fine and gross motor skills. 

Rough and Tumble Play

Rough and Tumble play is a form of physical play that's important for learning limits and building social bonds. 

Pretend Play

During pretend play, kids manipulate action toys or figurines to create elaborate play scenarios. Similar to dramatic play, pretend play provides children with a safe space to replay and process everything from daily routines to emotional events.

Constructive Play

Unsurprisingly, constructive play is all about construction. During constructive play, a child is focused on building a structure.

Nature Play

Nature play allows kids to connect with the outdoors and centers their natural curiosity. More and more research has begun to reveal that nature play is one of the most impactful types of play. 

Creative Play

Creative Play involves any form of artistic expression, kids often make or produce a final product through creative play.

The final product can physical or everlasting, like on a canvas or piece of paper. The final product can also be something a child is proud to show off or share but its' existence is only temporary-- like a dance they learned, a cookie they made for you, a song performed on an instrument.

Traditional Art

Keep in mind, most toddlers aren’t Monet prodigies. A lot of the art they create will probably be scribbles with crayons or random paint strokes until around age 2 and a half. But, creative play is less about the end product and more about the process of a child experimenting with colors and developing the muscles to control their utensils.

Musical Expression

Through musical expression, kids create sounds, rhythms, and melodies to communicate feelings, stories, or simply enjoy the joy of music. This form of play can also be a supportive aid in generating connections between the part of the brain that connects with emotions and memories.

Example: Child making up their own song or using household objects and/or instruments to produce sounds.

✨ Guided Play 

Guided play is child-led and inspired by the interests of a child. The adult's role is to provide scaffolding to meet a learning goal. This form of play falls along a spectrum between free play and games (which are structured). NAEYC refers to guided play as a form of playful learning¹.

Examples: Within a play setup designed to teach shapes, a grownup might see a kid playing various shaped blocks and then prompt them by asking a question like, "Do you think you could show me how to build a tower using only rectangle shaped blocks?"

Here's another example of ,guided play from The LEGO Foundation². Although the example is geared toward educators, any caregiver or play facilitator can apply a similar approach during guided play:

"Children building with blocks will often go as high as possible. Noticing this, an educator can suggest they compare which tower is taller, count how many blocks each tower has, and even use blocks as a unit of measure to compare heights and lengths of all kinds of objects in the class."

Developmental Skills: Problem solving; color recognition; sorting; classification; vocabulary; counting; Intro to STEM skills

Teaches: Adaptability (adjusting to given guidelines), specific academic or life concepts (like colors, shapes, numbers, or social scenarios)

Toys or Supplies: Shape sorters; puzzles; guided Lego kits

Sensory Play

Sensory Play engages multiple senses at the same time. Activities under this category involve stimulating visual (colors, patterns), auditory (sound, noise), kinesthetic (movement, motion), or tactile (touch, feel, texture) components. You can also activate olfactory receptors through pleasing scents like cinnamon or peppermint.

Sensory Play falls under guided play for a couple reasons: (1) Young toddlers require supervision due to choking hazards and general safety. (2) Unlike the openness of free play, it's common for caregivers to set up sensory bins that revolve around a theme, season, or holiday. However, most kids ages 3 and up can do sensory play independently.

✨ Competitive Play 

Through Competitive Play kids engage in games or activities with defined rules and a clear objective. This form of play often introduces little ones to the concept of winning or achieving a goal before others, as well as how to handle defeat.

Competitive play helps kids see competition in a positive light and motivates them to simply do their best. It also provides a safe environment for little ones to experience and manage a healthy amount of pressure.

Examples: Races; treasure hunts; obstacle courses; a game of Hot Potato; Soccer Shots

Developmental Skills: Gross motor skills; coordination; problem solving (how to win or why did they loose); memory (remembering the rules)

Teaches: Patience, rule following; leadership; sportsmanship; turn taking; self-regulation; collaboration; self-confidence

Toys or Supplies: Soccer ball; basketball; mini size football; goals or orange cones

Games

Games allow kids to familiarize themselves with structure and rules. 

Citations:

¹ Jensen, H., Pyle, A., Zosh, J. M., Ebrahim, H. B., Zaragoza Scherman, A., Reunamo, J., & Hamre, B. K. (2019). Play facilitation: the science behind the art of engaging young

children (white paper). The LEGO Foundation, DK.

² Digital excerpt from book by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children): Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8. 4th ed. (2022) Washington, DC