Sensorimotor play (6-12 months)
The child begins to seek pleasurable sensations through their own body rather than through the adult's (e.g. movement/stillness, balance/imbalance, tension/release, pulling/pushing). We see the child experimenting with tone and posture in a completely independent way; for example, a child who, while sitting, tries not to use their hands as a support anymore and tips backward (seeking the sensation of dizziness), but also a search for pleasurable sensory stimulation and a new conquest of space. (12-24 months) This space is fully claimed once the child gains greater confidence, skill, and creativity. (24-36 months) Gradually, through sensorimotor play, the child experiments more and more boldly with their own movement, and abilities such as climbing, going up, free falling, and jumping down emerge. Motor performances gradually take the form of games of skill and achievement, played alone or in a small group.
The neuropsychomotor therapist's advice: offer covered foam mats, colored foam blocks (the well-known «cubes») of different shapes and sizes, rectangular, square, but also cylindrical or concave, so the child can experience swaying, imbalance, and falls. Cushions, small obstacles to get past (e.g. colored building bricks), soft balls of different sizes, small ladders, slides, slopes to go down or up, tunnels, little houses to go in and out of. Spaces should be as safe as possible and free of clutter. Play centers and environments suited to independent motor exploration are also a good option.
Proto-symbolic play (6-24 months)
(6-12 months) This is the moment when the child's attention and interest focus on objects, and play is deeply rooted in their experience of the surrounding world and its opposites. It's an explosion of activities linked to in/out, presence/absence, opening/closing, near/far, building/knocking down, active/passive, big/small... (12-24 months) Quite gradually, proto-symbolic play becomes more and more tied to handling and transforming objects and to using and transforming spaces (e.g. corners of the house to inhabit or to store their favorite things in).
The neuropsychomotor therapist's advice: materials suited to this type of play include things for pouring, such as various kinds of pasta, legumes, cornmeal, cups, pots, spoons, containers of various kinds. But also the «famous» treasure basket: little chains, recycled paper (e.g. from Easter eggs), cloths, ribbons, as well as Lego bricks to fit together, soft building blocks for towers to knock down and then rebuild. Use, as much as you can, «homemade toys», created from everyday materials, so they belong as much as possible to your child's daily life. Beyond being important for playing and experimenting with real elements from their own life, this also nurtures and stimulates the child's curiosity and creativity.
Symbolic play (12-36 months)
(12-24 months) These are the famous «pretend games» and shared make-believe, through symbolic codes involving gestures, sounds, mimicry, ways of using objects, and words: for example, pretending to eat, drink, or go to sleep. (24-36 months) Symbolic play gradually shifts toward improvised acting out of small stories and, later, increasingly elaborate narrative sequences.
The neuropsychomotor therapist's advice: this is «make-believe» play, so dolls, wooden, fabric, or plastic food, toy cars are all welcome, along with cloths, soft swords, costumes. What's needed are toys/materials that let the child act out everyday moments, and, increasingly, more imaginative ones.