{"id":490,"date":"2021-10-06T16:51:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T15:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/?page_id=120"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:10:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:10:21","slug":"play","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/play\/","title":{"rendered":"Play"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/big><\/h1>\n

Play<\/span><\/h1>\n

Resources<\/strong> \uf0ad<\/span> <\/cite><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/cite><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

What is it?<\/h3>\n

“Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.”<\/p>\n

(Article 31, United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Froebel stated play was “the highest form of learning”<\/cite> (Bruce, 2005, p. 5), while the Scottish Government’s definition is,<\/p>\n

“Play encompasses children’s behaviour which is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated.\u00a0 It is performed for no external goal or reward and is a fundamental and integral part of healthy development\u2026<\/em> There are many forms of play, it can be “active, passive, solitary, independent, assisted, social, exploratory, education or just for fun.\u00a0 It can happen indoors or outdoors, it can be structured, creative, messy, entirely facilitated by the imagination or can involve using the latest gadget.” <\/em><\/p>\n

(Play Strategy for Scotland: Our Strategy<\/a>, Scottish Government, 2012, p. 12)<\/p>\n

Bruce (2011) describes 12 features of play that we refer to as free-flow play:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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  1. \n
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    1. Children use first-hand experiences from life<\/li>\n
    2. Children make up rules as they play to keep control<\/li>\n
    3. Children symbolically represent as they play, making and adapting play props<\/li>\n
    4. Children choose to play \u2013 they cannot be made to play<\/li>\n
    5. Children rehearse their future in their role play<\/li>\n
    6. Children sometimes play alone<\/li>\n
    7. Children pretend when they play<\/li>\n
    8. Children play with adults and other children cooperatively in pairs or groups<\/li>\n
    9. Children have a personal play agenda, which may or may not be shared<\/li>\n
    10. Children are deeply involved (see Leuven Scale<\/a>)\u00a0 and difficult to distract from their deep learning as they wallow in their play and learning<\/li>\n
    11. Children try out their most recently acquired skills and competencies as if celebrating what they know<\/li>\n
    12. Children coordinate ideas and feelings and make sense of relationships with their families, friends and cultures<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/h3>\n

      Key messages:<\/h3>\n
      \"Play<\/a>
      Play Scotland, 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

      Multiple play types exist from Whitebread’s (2012) five types<\/a> of play to Hughes’ (1996) 16 play types<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      These play types overlap, and multiple play types can co-occur simultaneously, e.g. children engaging in physical play with rules and objects (Additional information on play types can be found here: Sharing the Ambition<\/a>).<\/p>\n