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Home › Articles › Behavior › From Baby to Preschool Play

From Baby to Preschool Play

The Wonderful World of Child's Play as They Grow

By Renee Roberson

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As your child becomes a toddler, you can expect to have a very active child on your hands as he celebrates his new mobility and enjoys exploring the world around him. Moen says that toddlers also start experimenting with "pre-operational" types of play.

"Pre-operational" play is when a child takes an everyday object, such as a shoe, and pretends it is a car by sliding it across the floor. At this point, toddlers also begin to participate in "quiet play," which is a type of play that continues on through the preschool years.

At Moen's preschool, she developed a quiet play area that houses a small library and a computer station. Other types of quiet play for children over a year old include simple puzzles and looking at picture books.

Construction and Manipulative Play

When children begin constructing during their play, such as building a structure with building blocks, they begin developing manipulative skills and work on language development because they like to talk about what it is they are constructing or creating.

Children usually begin experimenting with construction and manipulative play (working with puzzles, large beads, lace-up objects and cards and modeling clay such as play dough) during the latter part of the toddler years and continuing through preschool. Children enjoy these two types of play either working as an individual or, as they get a little older, working collectively with others to complete a project.

Active Play

Active play, also called physical play, helps children define both fine and gross motor skills, multitasking, hand-eye coordination and muscle control, Moen says. Toddlers begin using active play as their mobility increases and enjoy climbing on indoor and outdoor climbing equipment and experimenting with ride-on toys, while preschoolers gain coordination by riding tricycles, bicycles and scooters.


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