The Top 16 Types of Play, Ranked!

There are roughly 16 types of play that children engage in in their early years that help them learn, grow, and cooperate with their classmates. They can generally be used in tandem and often intersect with each other. Parents and educators alike can incorporate these types of play as part of their every day routines.

Imaginative Play
Children create their own worlds and explore them outside the confines of daily life. Pretending to be other animals is a common way of expressing this play.

Exploratory Play
Fantastic for improving motor function. This type of play revolves around exploring environments with our senses and discovering how our bodies and minds respond to the world around us.

Social Play
The ultimate cooperative skills builder. Learn to work with others, follow rules and strengthen verbal and non verbal comprehension.

Creative Play
Think arts and crafts, exploration and making something out of nothing.

Socio-Dramatic Play
Children mimic the grown-up behaviour they see in real life. Think of pretending to set the table for dinner or driving a car.

Communication Play

Practice using different forms of communication such as verbal, miming, dance, song etc.

Locomotive Play

Any type of movement to get the body working including strengthening muscles and improving flexibility and spacial awareness.

Role Play

Mimicking the behaviours of others. Typically includes props and sometimes costume, song and dance.

Symbolic Play

Use your imagination to turn ordinary objects and tools into something completely different and new.

Rough and Tumble Play

Done carefully, this type of play is excellent for exercise, communicating with others and learning about boundaries.

Dramatic Play

Acting out people or situations, often presented to the class.

Deep Play

Explore the world, even the scary bits. Use this play to encounter real life situations that might seem scary or difficult from a distance but are possible to overcome.

Fantasy Play

The most imaginative of all of the dramatic play types. Children chose roles that they don’t see reflected in real life but maybe have seen in a storybook or in a movie. It could also be completely made up from their creative minds.

Mastery Play

See how the wold reacts to your foot print. What happens when you dig a hole in sand (short term) or plant trees (long term).

Recapitulative Play

Learning about the world through different generational lenses using stories, song, poetry and other mediums.