The Play & Social Behaviors of Preschoolers

Preschool Children’s Social/Manipulative Play Stages:

• Onlooker – Watching others play

• Solitary – Alone, occupied with play

• Parallel – Alongside another

• Associative – Related play theme

• Cooperative – Sharing materials and sustaining play theme

• Functional – repeat actions

• Constructive – produces a product

• Dramatic – pretend

• Games with Rules – control and order

Preschool Children’s Dramatic Play Stages:

• Functional (Driving a car; feeding a baby)

• Relational (Representing a family member or pet)

• Stereotypic (Predictable based on occupation)

• Fictional (Taken from a story or movie; superhero)