Communication Play
Allows your child toplay using their words and gestures and learn about jokes and acting
Creative Play
Allows your child to explore, try out new things and use their imagination
Deep Play
Allows your child to experiment with facing risky experiences and addressing their fears
Dramatic Play
Allows your child to experiment with roles they could take and acting them out
Exploratory Play
Allows your child to explore, the world and how things around them function by using their senses
Fantasy Play
Allows your child to explore, their fantasy world and experiment with things that aren't likely in real life
Imaginative Play
Allows your child to play outside of the rules of the physical world
Locomotor Play
Allows your child to enjoy experimenting with the sensation of movement in play
Mastery Play
Allows your child to show they can control elements of their play or the environment
Object Play
Allows your child to develop their hand-eye coordination and manipulation skills
Recapitulative Play
Allows your child to explore the past through rhymes, stories, rituals, history and ancestry as well as the themes of fire and darkness
Role Play
Allows your child to explore, different roles and ways of being and try them out in a safe environment
Rough & Tumble Play
Allows your child to develop their physical skills in a safe and friendly way
Social Play
Allows your child to develop their understanding of social rules and how they work when playing with others
Socio-Dramatic Play
Allows your child to explore their social skills by acting out social roles
Symbolic Play
Allows your child to experiment with using objects or symbols to represent something else within their play
Adapted from Huges, B (2002)2nd Ed. 'A Playworker'sTaxonomy of Play Types'. andan infographic fromencourageplay.com