Play can take the form of improvisation, pretense, interaction, performance, mimicry, games, sports, and thrill-seeking (including extreme or dangerous sports like sky-diving, high-speed racing, etc.). Philosopher Roger Caillois wrote about play in his 1961 book Man, Play and Games. Caillois interprets many social structures as elaborate forms of games and much behaviour as a form of play.
Free-form play gives children the freedom to decide what they want to play and how it will be played. Both the activity and the rules are subject to change in this form, and children can make any changes to the rules or objectives of the play at any time. Some countries in the twenty-first century have added emphasis of free play into their values for children in early childhood, for example Taiwan and Hungary.
Structured play has clearly defined goals and rules. Such play is called a "game". Other play is unstructured or open-ended. Both types of play promote adaptive behaviors and mental states of happiness.
Sports with defined rules take place within designated play spaces, such as sports fields—in association football for example, players kick a ball in a certain direction and push opponents out of their way as they do so. While appropriate within the sport's play space, these same behaviors might be inappropriate or even illegal outside the playing field.
Other designed play spaces can be playgrounds with dedicated equipment and structures to promote active and social play. Some play spaces go even farther in specialization to bring the play indoors, and charge admission, as seen at Children's Museums, Science Centers, or Family Entertainment Centers. Family Entertainment Centers (or Play Zones) are typically for-profit businesses that facilitate play and entertainment, while Children's Museums and Science Centers are typically non-profit organisations for educational entertainment.
The California-based National Institute for Play describes seven play patterns:
attunement play
establishes a connection, such as between newborn and mother
body play
an infant explores the ways in which their body works and interacts with the world, such as making funny sounds or discovering what happens in a fall
creative play
uses imagination to transcend what is known in the current state, to create a higher state. For example, a person might experiment to find a new way to use a musical instrument, thereby taking that form of music to a higher plane; or, as Einstein was known to do, a person might wonder about things which are not yet known and play with unproven ideas as a bridge to the discovery of new knowledge.
imaginative or pretend play
a child invents scenarios from their imagination and acts within them as a form of play, such as princess or pirate play
object play
such as playing with toys, banging pots and pans, handling physical things in ways that use curiosity
social play
involves others in activities such as tumbling, making faces, and building connections with another child or group of children
storytelling play
play of learning and language that develops intellect, such as a parent reading aloud to a child, or a child retelling the story in their own words
Another classification system uses these categories:
challenge play
such as solving a Rubik's Cube puzzle
competitive play
such as a footrace
construction play
such as building with blocks
cooperative play
such as playing on a team or making up a new game together
creative play
such as making up a new story or drawing a picture
pretend play
such as children pretending to be animals or a storybook character
nurturing play
such as playing with baby dolls
replica play
such as playing with toy versions of food in a play kitchen
Some forms overlap, such as a relay race (cooperative and competitive) or building a blanket fort (construction and creative).
Separate from self-initiated play, play therapy is used as a clinical application of play aimed at treating children who suffer from trauma, emotional issues and other problems.
