Which Game For Which Stage Of Child Development? – Being Parents

Play is very important for the development of children. This is why it adapts to each stage of their growth.

As the child grows, the stimuli to which he reacts change. The more he progresses, the more he learns and the more his playing habits change, to best suit his new abilities and interests.

The evolution of play is oriented towards the search for perfection in all the activities that a child undertakes.

Babies have little capacity for play. However, the older they get, the more sophisticated their games become. The child thus systematically adapts his game to his stage of growth, but it is our responsibility to facilitate his learning by providing him with the appropriate tools.

To recognize the level reached in his development, we must observe with what and how he plays; this is the main indicator of his maturity and the evolution of his personality. The way of playing at a given moment is characteristic of the stage of development in which the child finds himself. This is why it is easy to observe how his interests change over relatively short periods of time.

Also, there is no particular age to start playing. Babies play from a very young age, although we don’t necessarily notice it. As we said, the type of play is relative to the stage of development of the child, which is why babies have less noticeable play habits.

Likewise, it is possible to distinguish between baby’s play and children’s play according to their personality. That is, there may be differences in the way  children of the same age play or in their choice of toys. In other words, we can categorize childhood play by stage of development, but the manifestation of each child’s play depends on the personality of each child.

What game according to the child’s developmental stage?

To define exactly what stage of development the child is in, it is convenient to let him play his own way and let him choose the game. Once the type of game used recently has been identified, we can then l ” help through adapted specialized tools.

If you want to know more about the games best suited to children according to their stage of development, here are some of the game categories according to the child’s age.

Motor skills games

These start from the first days of life until about two years old. Games in this category focus on performing different movements to promote their abilities and body control. At this point, the child enjoys practicing mastery over objects.

Creativity and symbolism

Games in this category manifest at about two and a half to at least three years. Although fantasy is an element that is very often part of children’s games, whatever their age,  it is at this stage that symbolic play is most practiced.

Role-playing and faking about the function of objects is typical of the age of three. At this age, the child grants unlimited abilities to most things.

Construction

Construction games cover a stage of a child’s life in which there is a strong development of his abilities, from around the age of five to about seven years. At this point, children have a greater mental capacity allowing them to create more complex objects and they can play building things for hours.

Rules and integration

By age seven, children have developed most of their physical and mental skills, but they still need to improve their social skills. The games then focus on social interaction at this age.

The children then understand the rules of integration, form groups with other children based on interaction, similar to those of adults. Sports or board games are therefore particularly suited to this stage of children’s development.