Westby Play Scale Flashcards

Study Notes

Stages of Play Development

Stage I (9-12 months):
- Engages in goal-directed play, exploring ways to obtain desired objects.
- Begins to understand simple cause and effect through actions like finding toys hidden under fabrics.
- Demonstrates early language skills with performance words and communication that involves requests and commands.
Stage II (13-17 months):
- Engages in purposeful exploration and trial-and-error play with toys.
- Shows awareness of others' capabilities by handing toys to adults for assistance.
- Uses context-dependent single words and demonstrates a fluctuating vocabulary; initiates requests and interactions with gestures.
Stage III (17-19 months):
- Engages in autosymbolic play, such as pretending to eat or sleep.
- Demonstrates functional language development with nine types of language uses including recurrence, existence, and action.
- Vocabulary expands rapidly, although does not refer to absent situations.
Stage IV (19-22 months):
- Engages in symbolic play beyond self, such as caring for dolls and combining two toys in play scenarios.
- Begins using possessives but lacks word endings; references absent objects signifies cognitive growth.
Stage V (24 months):
- Engages in role-play that reflects daily experiences using realistic objects; limited to short event sequences.
- Engages in block play and consumes sand/water play; language reflects earlier functions, now extending to phrases, questions, and word endings.
Stage VI (2.5 years):
- Represents less common events through play, such as medical scenarios; parallel play is more evident.
- Responds to WH questions contextually, begins to ask questions though responses may not be accurate.
Stage VII (3 years):
- Connects pretend play in sequences; demonstrates use of past and future tense as a reflection of cognitive progress.
- Engages in unplanned sequences and revisits old play scenarios with new outcomes.
Stage VIII (3 to 3.5 years):
- Utilizes less realistic props, signaling development in perspective-taking (theory of mind).
- Increases use of descriptive language and begins to give dialogue and perspectives to inanimate objects.
Stage IX (3.5 to 4 years):
- Starts hypothesizing and planning for hypothetical scenarios; uses dolls and puppets for narrative scenes.
- Develops reasoning skills, articulating intentions and demonstrating problem-solving.
Stage X (5 years):
- Plans elaborate sequences of pretend play, coordinating roles and events without needing realistic props.
- Exhibits advanced language skills with relative and subordinate clauses, though full mastery develops later.

Description

Explore the developmental stages of play and language in young children with these Westby Play Scale flashcards. This quiz delves into stages from 9-12 months to 13-17 months, focusing on play behaviors, communication skills, and appropriate toy use.