Play and Playthings by age: 6 - 9 years

Skill: Social
Appropriate Playthings: board games, tabletop sport games, organized sports, hobby kits, kites, balls, skates, bicycles

Skill: Intellectual
Appropriate Playthings: dolls, toy typewriters, printing sets, racing cars, construction sets, science and craft kits, handicrafts, sports and hobbies, books, puzzles

Skill: Spacial Relationships (moving confidently through space)
Appropriate Playthings: large bicycles, ice and roller skates, pogo sticks, scooters

Skill: Creative Problem Solving
Appropriate Playthings: costumes, doll houses, play villages, miniature people and vehicles, magic sets, art materials

What caregivers can do:

• Be observant of children's play.
• Ask "What did it look like?" and "What did it feel like?"
• Play make-believe games.
• Build things.
• Play competitively at games and play situations.
• Improvise imaginary characters and play situations.
• Play theater and puppet dramas.
• Encourage creative writing and poetry.
• Play work games.
• Attach names to objects.
• Play sandlot sports.
• Tell jokes and riddles.
• Read to children.
• Let the children read to you.
• Help children to organize and clarify things.
• Take children to the library.

Play and Playthings by age reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. (1994). Play is the business of kids. In *Better Kid Care: A video learn-at-home unit* (pp. 3-18). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension.