FEBRUARY 18, 2024 – SESSION 4 2.

Individuality – the characteristics and

LESSON 4 – TYPES OF PLAY
Dramatic or Fantasy Play
- Focuses on a child’s most impressive tool,
their imagination.
- Any type of fantastical activity falls into this
category such as dress-up, pretend house,
or make-believing he/she works at a
restaurant.
- “They’re trying out behaviors to mimic what
they see in the real world,” like holding
conversation and cooperating with others.
(Dr. Starnes).
Physical Play
- Involves body movement, but not
necessarily in a competitive setting.
- Examples are playing tag, throwing a
Frisbee, dancing to music and riding
scooters.
- Can develop fine and gross motor skills in
children.
- Also helps with balance, hand-eye
coordination, muscle development and
more.
experiences unique to each child, within the
context of their family and community that
has implications for how best to support
their development and learning.
3. Context – everything discernible about the
social and cultural contexts for each child,
each educator and the program as a whole.
Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate
Practice
- Creating a caring community of learners
- Engaging in reciprocal partnerships with
families and fostering community
connections
- Observing, documenting and assessing
children’s development and learning
- Teaching to enhance each child’s
development and learning
- Planning and implementing an engaging
curriculum to achieve meaningful goals
- Demonstrating professionalism as an early
childhood educator

Constructive Play
- Through constructive play, children create
something with materials in an organized
way.
- In this play, children rely on their ideas to
navigate the world around them.
- Teaches about persistence, planning,
creativity and logical thinking.
- Kids also get real-world experience with
scientific and mathematical concepts, which
often fuel their natural curiosity.

Competitive Play
- Consists of organized activities with rules
and winners.
- Examples are family board games and
sports.
- Not only do children learn about teamwork
through competitive play, but they also gain
experience with taking turns, following rules
and coping with failure – all important
lessons for navigating society.

Core Considerations on Developmentally

Appropriate Practices

1. Commonality – current research and

understandings of processes of child
development and learning that apply to all
children, including the understanding that all
development and learning occur within
specific social, cultural, linguistic and
historical contexts.