Tier 2:
Play Domains
What is the child doing and learning?
Within the four Play Categories, we can find eight Play Domains, presented below. These play domains address what the child is learning and doing during a play experience. They were designed to align with domains of learning and development and can manifest differently according to which play category approach is taken. Unlike Play Categories, children can engage in multiple Play Domains at the same time.
Dramatic/Socio-dramatic play
Children act out an imagined situation or story.
Examples: Playing school or house, puppet show
Science and environmental play
Children explore characteristics of and relationships between natural materials.
Examples: Water table, sand table, science experiments
Physical play
Children explore the movement of their bodies and/or use their bodies to express themselves.
Examples: Dance, sports, swimming, rough-and-tumble
Language and literacy play
Children use letters and words to understand the world and express themselves.
Examples: Rhyming with nonsense words, storytelling, letter-sound matching games
Math play
Children explore mathematical dimensions of the world through interaction with numbers, shapes and sizes.
Examples: Sorting, counting, seriating, categorizing items
Engineering play
Children use materials to build something new.
Examples: Building a block tower, making a “house” with Legos, building a fort with furniture
Aesthetic play
Children use art mediums to express themselves.
Examples: Painting, drawing, playing music, singing, drama
Digital play
Children use technology and digital media to understand the world and express themselves.
Examples: Computer games, video games, coding