Play is any activity this is not required that you do just for your own self-enjoyment. The reward with play is the play itself. So anything you do for fun.
“Play is the work of childhood.”Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.”Play is important to promote healthy child development.
Play helps children develop in the cognitive, social, physical, and emotional areas of their brains.
Play allows children to use their creativity and imagination to strengthen their physical body and their brain.
Some studies suggest that children should be getting 3 hours a day of outdoor play.
But children should be getting regular play throughout their day not just in one long session.
Piaget developed his theory using the observations he made of his own children and came up with a theory of cognitive development that focused on the stages of play that children go through.
Piaget’s Stages of Play: How Piaget Developed the Theory
Piaget’s research led him to build his theory on four stages of cognitive development based on the way children play including the sensorimotor stage,the pre-operational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage.