y develops into the second category, relational play. This category includes nonfunctional combinations of objects like banging or stacking two toys or using one object to hold another. The third category, functional play, also involves manipulating two or more objects but in a conventional or appropriate way. For example, putting a teacup on a saucer or pushing a truck into the garage. The next stage is symbolic play, which is characterized by the use of one object as another like using the teacup as a telephone receiver. Another form of symbolic play is creating something imaginary like making pouring noises and saying tea to symbolize a drink being served. When a string of any of these activities is demonstrated that is a sequence and provides evidence for a higher cognitive level (Ungerer and Sigman,1984). These stages in play are important to decipher and segregate because it provides insight into the cognitive processes of children at an age when they cannot respond thoughtfully in a one-on-one interview with a researcher. By observing advances in play, especially more advanced stages like symbolic play we can observe a child trying out new language skills and modeling new memories.
             Wall, Pickert, and Gibson state in their research that symbolic play in the preoperational stage evolves. It begins simply and slowly; the play between two and three-year-olds consists of loose themes and use simple props. As age increases so do the complexity of children's games. Storylines become more intricate but closer to reality. With a greater vocabulary children
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