Associative Play is the fifth stage in the sociologist Mildren Parten’s, 'Six Stages of Play’ Theory which appears in children between about four and four and a half years of age.
At this stage, children may be playing together yet things are not completely there yet. When in this stage, children may be quite comfortable playing with or close to others and sharing not just material resources but ideas, narrative, and characters too, yet details may be different for each player and common goals do not exist within the group. Think of it as a group of individuals playing together.
In other words, it is possible for playmates involved in this type of playing to appear to be part of a bigger group, yet all have very different ideas to each other of what exactly is going on and what direction it might develop in.
They may for example be in a pair making something out of cardboard boxes and other loose parts but one think they are building a robot and the other a spaceship; or a group may be playing a chase game where the rules have not been fully agreed on but the game is still going on, each playing to their own interpretation of the rules.
However, most children will be confident enough by this stage to approach other children to seek them out as playmates.
This stage is the penultimate to fully Cooperative Play and as such it is a vital step. The ‘rules’ to being part of a regular group of playmates are being worked out in this stage, as are the folkloric rituals that make 'play with rules' operate smoothly. Long standing friendships are being created, and a shared culture of that specific playspace is being developed.
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See also the Six Stages of Play Theory, Mildred Parten, Unoccupied Play, Solitary Play, Onlooker Play, Parallel Play, Cooperative Play, Games, and Playlore.
