What is Mildred Parten's theory of play?
Madelyn Rau
2025-07-24 18:15:26
Count answers
: 16
Stages of play is a theory and classification of children's participation in play developed by Mildred Parten Newhall in her 1929 dissertation. Parten recognized six different types of play: Unoccupied, Solitary, Onlooker, Parallel, Associative, and Cooperative play. Parten observed American preschool age children at free play and found that as children became older, improving their communication skills, and as opportunities for peer interaction become more common, the nonsocial types of play become less common, and the social types of play become more common. Solitary play is when the child is alone and maintains focus on its activity, and is more common in younger children. Onlooker play is when the child watches others at play but does not engage in it, and is also more common in younger children. Parallel play is when the child plays separately from others but close to them and mimicking their actions, and is seen as a transitory stage from a socially immature solitary and onlooker type of play, to a more socially mature associative and cooperative type of play. Associative play is when the child is interested in the people playing but not in coordinating their activities with those people, and Cooperative play is when a child is interested both in the people playing and in the activity they are doing, with an organized activity and assigned roles. According to Parten, as children became older, the social types of play become more common.
Lurline Osinski
2025-07-24 13:35:18
Count answers
: 7
Mildred Parten observed two to five year-old children and noted six types of play. Three types she labeled as non-social (unoccupied, solitary, and onlooker) and three types were categorized as social play (parallel, associative, and cooperative). Younger children engage in non-social play more than those older; by age five associative and cooperative play are the most common forms of play. Table 4.4 describes each type of play.
Read also
- What can be accomplished by observing a child's play?
- How to resolve conflict in a childcare setting?
- What are the 5 C's of conflict management?
- What are three behaviors that demonstrate an avoidance conflict style?
- What is Vygotsky's theory of play?
- What is Froebel's theory of play?
- What are the 5 different types of observation you can use when observing children's play?
- What are three benefits of observing children?