Common Categories of Playthings
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According to Smilansky and Shefatya’s (1990) categories of play, there are four types of play, which include the following:
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Constructive play, in which children build and make things;
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Functional play, in which children manipulate toys; also called manipulative play;
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Games with rules, in which children learn to understand the ideas of rules, accept the rules, and play by the rules; and
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Dramatic/sociodramatic play, in which children pretend to be other people by using props; also called creative and imaginative play.
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Also, there are cognitive play, exploratory play, and motor-training related activities.
Constructive Play (建構性遊戲)
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The constructive play materials are open-ended
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Children use materials to creatively and intentionally build something
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The materials take many forms, such as blocks, Legos, gears, playdough, sand, recycled materials, etc.
Cognitive Play (認知訓練遊戲)
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The cognitive play materials build children’s problem-solving and other cognitive skills, such as sorting, categorizing, counting, matching, etc.
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The materials include puzzles, matching games, constructing and building blocks, etc.
Manipulative Play (操作性遊戲)
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Children develop their fine motor skills through manipulating the materials to gain control over their movements and to coordinate physical actions
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Through manipulating materials, children learn about:
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The concepts of size, shape, weight, length, heights, cause and effect (e.g., object permanence box), sequencing, order, patterns, etc.
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The skills of analysing and solving problems, etc.
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Exploratory Play (探索性遊戲)
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Children use all their senses to explore, for example children examine objects by looking, touching, listening and moving it to learn about how they can influence the world around them.
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Materials include magnifying glass, magnets, specimens, etc.
Creative and Imaginative Play (創作及想像性遊戲)
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Children use their imagination to learn and play with toys and props.
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They use symbols (an object) to represent other objects. For example, the child uses a banana to stand for a phone.
Motor-training related Activities (體能訓練活動)
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Through involving in the motor-training related activities, children involve in the use of motor (gross and fine motor) skills, including
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Fine motor skills such as hand-eye coordination, pinching, grasping, etc.
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Gross motor skills such as jumping, running, hopping, climbing, balancing, etc.
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Equipment includes the sensory boards, balance beams, climbing frame, hula hoops, etc.
Loose Parts (素材物料)
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Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put them back together in multiple ways.
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Children using loose parts lead to explorations that occur naturally and learn about things.
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Materials can be recycling, natural.
References
- Smilansky, S., & Shefatya, L. (1990). Facilitating play: A medium for promoting cognitive, socio-emotional, and academic development in young children. Psychosocial & Educational.
