Solitary (or Independent) Play is the second stage in the sociologist Mildren Parten’s, ‘Six Stages of Play’ Theory which occupies children between about three months and two and a half years of age.
At this stage, children may appear to be unaware of what others around them are doing yet unlike in Unoccupied Play (the stage immediately before this one) it appears that children are making an active choice to play in a non-social way.
They may be playing with building bricks or colouring in, for example, but are more focussed and sustained than in the previous stage.
Originally it was felt that the six stages were rigidly progressive in that each stage followed and replaced the previous one; but modern views of the theory now recognise that children move backwards and forwards through the stages depending on circumstances and that the age ranges first considered in the theory are less rigid.
Unoccupied Play is the first stage in the theory were this might be evident as it is clear that children of all ages (and sometimes adults) will play independently, yet quite happily of others, and be either aware or not of what others are doing around them.
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See also the Six Stages of Play Theory, Mildred Parten, Unoccupied Play, Onlooker Play, Parallel Play, Associative Play, and Cooperative Play
