From the age of about 12 months , children show an interest as adults demonstrate symbolic play ; brushing a doll’s hair ,giving the doll a meal , pushing a toy man in a toy car , and begin to join in with these games , more or less competently . At 15 months , Rebecca watches intently as an adult dresses and undresses a doll , then tries this herself / She will , however , need to be somewhat older before she can get the arms and legs into the right holes . She likes to join in putting the doll to bed and waking it up , and then makes her own version of the game by discarding the doll and substituting her favorite monkey . All the games involve a considerable amount of repetition .
At 18 months , she creates a new and more complicated game which she has not seen an adult play . Taking a staking beaker , she offers her monkey a drink , then makes him pull back , shaking her head and saying ‘no, no!’. The adult asks , ‘ Doesn’t he like it ? ‘ Rebbeca reaches for another beaker and offers a different ‘ drink ‘ This seems to be acceptable to the monkey , who ‘drinks’ it whilst Rebecca makes enthusiastic drinking noises.
Children who are confident in themselves , in their surrounding and in their care- givers develop their own play with the minimum of adult guidance . Adults need to try to achieve a balance between playing with the children games of the adult ‘s choosing and providing opportunities for children to make their own games . This applies equally to parents and to those who have care of other people’s children .
Tanya , aged 22months stands quite near to a nursery nurse with a large , soft ball in her hands . The nursery nurse seems not to see her , and to continues a conversation with a colleague about another fractious child whom the colleague is rocking in her arms .
It is suggested to the nursery nurse that Tanya would like to play . Immediately she responds , smiles at Tanya and takes the ball from her . She throws it a little away and Tanya runs after it , and bring it back . ‘Stands over there ,’ the nursery nurse says , ‘ and I’ ll throw it to you . You can try and catch it’.