At what age do children typically begin to engage in cooperative play?

Children typically begin to engage in cooperative play during early childhood, around the ages of 3 to 6 years. At this stage of development, children start to work together with peers to achieve common goals and share in activities. They move beyond parallel play—where children play side by side without interacting—to more interactive play that involves taking turns, sharing toys, and communicating to organize their playtime. This type of play fosters social skills, such as communication, empathy, and teamwork, which are essential for healthy social development.

In contrast, during infancy, play is mostly solitary and exploratory as infants interact with their environment and begin to develop basic motor skills. In toddlerhood, play is often characterized by parallel play, where children play independently alongside each other but do not actively engage with one another. By middle childhood, children enhance their ability to play cooperatively, but this stage is more about refining social interactions than first engaging in cooperative play. Therefore, early childhood is the developmental stage when cooperative play prominently emerges.