search into early childhood development has widely focused on role of play towards the development of children. Developmental and psychological theories have suggested play to be one of many sources that influence language, social, cognitive and emotional development in children (Piaget, 1961; Vygotsky, 1978). Ever since, numerous researches consisting of varying methodological designs have investigated play theories, prompting the understanding of the role of play in child development. Classical theories of child development derived in the early twentieth centuries aimed to understand the purpose behind play in children, focusing on consumption of surplus energy beliefs and instincts related to evolution. After 1920, classical theories have been discredited and extinct, and new modern theories were proposed as a result of experimental research. Modern theories of play aim to determine the contributions of play in child development as opposed to investigating the underlying cause of the behaviour. Theories and experiments conducted not only investigated the influence of play on development but also differentiated the different types of play involved and how they vary in their influence on children’s social, cognitive, physical and emotional development. For instance, physical play, also referred to as ‘rough-and-tumble’ play has been observed to evolve the earliest in children (Bjorklund & Brown, 1998; Tannock, 2007). This type of exercise play has been suggested to develop motor and cognitive skills (Pellegirini and Smith, 1998; Stodden et al., 2008) and improved social interactions in primary school children (Beresin, 2012). Symbolic play illustrates children’s cognitive, social-emotional and language skills (Elder and Pederson, 1978; Marinova, 2018). Evolving>