Pretend Play versus Active Play

I noticed something at today's MyGym class: While all of the rest of the kids (all of them) were running about, climbing and scrambling and leaping, Daniel is playing, too, but he's playing differently than the rest of the kids. He finds a corner and begins "pretend play:" he's a waiter, or something else.

The other kids seem to be focused on physically interacting with play equipment directly, scrambling over it, jumping on it. Daniel uses the play equipment like a prop for his imagination.