Educational Psychology / Unit 3 EDP 0263 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Parten's Stages of Social Play
The idea
Parten described six kinds of social play in order of social involvement. Three are non-social: unoccupied behavior, wandering without playing; solitary play, alone with one's own toys; and onlooker behavior, watching others play without joining. Three are social: parallel play, playing beside others with similar materials but not together; associative play, sharing and talking without a common goal; and cooperative play, organized around a shared goal with assigned roles.
In practice
Worked example: two four-year-olds sit side by side, each building a sandcastle, glancing at each other but not working together. That is parallel play.
Where people slip
Parallel and associative play are often confused. If children share materials and talk but pursue separate aims, the play is associative; only when they coordinate toward one goal, as in building one castle together, is it cooperative.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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