Onlooker Play is the third stage in the sociologist Mildren Parten’s, ‘Six Stages of Play’ Theory which occupies children between about two and a half and three and a half years of age.
At this stage, children still appear to be non-social; in fact, it would be easy to interpret what is happening here as not play at all (hence why some people refer to this stage as ‘onlooker behaviour’, as opposed to ‘play’).
Unlike the previous two stages, children when ‘onlooking’ are very aware that others are playing around them, and a key characteristic of this can be them intently watching and listening to others playing yet not themselves joining in (see for example ‘Play Facing’ and the ‘Stop and Stare’).
That this stage might appear between two and a half and three and a half years of age is significant – this is the point at which ‘play with rules’ (games) are being introduced to children’s play repertoire, and so this observation and listening is largely about learning what the ‘rules’ are.
This also emphasises why the location of seating places close to where children commonly play is important.
Originally, it was felt that the various stages in the theory were progressive and once passed through were abandoned, yet modern views on the idea recognises that onlooking is something that children of any age (and adults) regularly engage in.
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See also the Six Stages of Play Theory, Mildred Parten, Unoccupied Play, Solitary Play, Parallel Play, Associative Play, Cooperative Play, Games, Play Facing, and Stop and Stare.
