The Serious Business of Play: Parten's Play Stages
by Mary Dixon Lebeau
Working in the 1930s, researcher Mildred Parten grouped play into six
categories and determined children's play styles mirror their social
development. Here are the various stages of play.
Unoccupied -- Not engaged in play.
Solitary (Independent) -- Playing separately from others, with no
reference to what others are doing
Onlooker -- Watching others play. May engage in conversation but not
engaged in doing. True focus on the children at play.
Parallel -- Playing with similar objects, clearly beside others but not
with them. (Near but not with others.)
Associative Play -- Playing with others without organization of play
activity. Initiating or responding to interaction with peers.
Cooperative Play -- Coordinating one's behavior with that of a peer.
Everyone has a role, with the emergence of a sense of belonging to a group.
Beginning of "team work."
