ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the information regarding play, including the history of play, properties and types of play, purpose of play, developmental theories regarding play, and historical use of play in therapy. C. Garvey described five properties of play, including play must be pleasurable or enjoyable, have no extrinsic goals, be spontaneous and voluntary, involve active engagement by the participant, and contain an element of makebelieve. David Elkind identified four types of play, including mastery play, innovative play, kinship play, and therapeutic play. Developmental theories on play typically measure play behaviors up to 4 years of age, due to children’s mastery of play structure to process and communicate by this age. The two major influential developmental theorists contributing to current understanding of play were Jean Piaget and Leo Vygotsky. Vygotsky recognized three functions of play, including the creation of the child’s zone of proximal development, helping the child separate thought and action, and finally the facilitating of self-regulation.
