Intellectual
Through play, children learn about themselves, their environment, people and the world around them. As they play, children learn to solve problems and to get along with others. They enhance their creativity and develop leadership skills and healthy personalities. Play develops skills children need to learn to read and write. Play in early childhood is the best foundation for success in school.
Emotional
Positive play experiences develop positive emotional well-being. Through play and imagination, a child can fulfil wishes and overcome fears of unpleasant experiences. Play helps the child master the environment. When children feel secure, safe, successful and capable, they acquire important components of positive emotional health. Sharing play experiences also can create strong bonds between parent and child.
Social
As toddlers, children play side by side without obvious communication (this is called parallel play). During the preschool years, they start to interact with each other by creating complex story lines together. As they do this, they learn to negotiate, cooperate, and share (though some kids don't master the art of sharing until they're 4 to 6 years old). When children disagree about who gets to be the daddy or who will wear the purple dress, they're actually developing important social skills. Language increases as a child plays and interacts with others. A baby's cooing games with parents evolve into the language skills of a child sharing stories. Learning to cooperate, negotiate, take turns and play by the rules are important interpersonal lifetime skills, all of which play fosters.
Fantasy
Imaginative play allows children to travel thorough space and time, to explore and envision future courses of action, to reinterpret experiences into stories, and to express themselves. Play, in its many forms, gives "a sense of the social fabric: its definitions of freedom, of what is sacred, and its sensibility of order. And these abstract elements are represented in all things associated with play, with the constumres, rituals, rules and objects that are bound up in this sociocultural practice.
Creative
A very important aspect of early childhood learning is the ability to role play. Children learn through doing and mimicking those around them. It is how they discover and learn about the world. Obviously this is why role models need to be especially careful regarding their own behaviour in front of children – it will be copied.
Part of the learning process involves being put into certain situations and choosing what the outcome will be. Children indulging in creative play will have to make decisions about important events. They will project themselves into a situation that requires empathy and understanding of the role. One of the most favourite role playing scenarios of childhood is playing house. Have you ever watched this happen? See how they mimic the parents and care for the ‘baby’, how they discipline and choose outcomes. They are learning more about their world in this situation than you could ever imagine.
Discovery
Discovery play is another major part of a child's life. The other part is imaginative play. Simply put, discovery play allows children to learn about the world and how it works (not just the physical world either). In general, children learn best by doing, so this type of playing is a natural fit for their development. Discovery play doesn't necessarily mean that children are given a structured kind of play. Yes, it does happen this way too and it can be fun. But more often than not, it's more enjoyable for kids to just "do stuff" and see what does what and why. This is the really fun part of learning. Maybe more so because it's spontaneous.
Manipulative
Manipulative play comes under physical development of your child. Play that involves hand-eye coordination and motor skills. Children need the opportunity to work on finer skills that involve a little more control and direction. Manipulative play develops the sense of coordination, challenging their little fingers to follow the lines or use their tools properly. Some examples of manipulative play are:
Colouring, especially in a defined area
Paper crafts and art involving moving parts that need to be "put together"
Using a safe and simple tool kit to help with tasks around the house
Cutting out a sunshine for the window or painting within the lines — all these activities are the perfect exercise for this type of play.
