Unless a therapist has a good grasp of the sequence of normal play development, he/she is unable either to assess a child's current developmental level accurately or to suggest play activities which are appropriate for the child. The study of play is complex and only two of the main categories of play can be discussed here, each from babyhood to school age. It is not only children with impairments who are disadvantaged developmentally and a brief mention of social class related differences in play behaviour is made. The article also looks critically at the quality of play research in its comparison of old and new developmental inventories.
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