It encourages creativity. The power of kids’ imaginations is a wondrous thing to behold. All they need is some time, space, and your encouragement, and they can be anything and go anywhere, just by pretending. They make up stories and adventures and create whole worlds and dialog and action sequences naturally, without even thinking about it—this is creativity in its purest form. Pretend play allows kids to reflect what they experience in the world around them and re-create social relationships through play. Kids make sense of the world and mimic the social interactions they see around them through imaginative play with friends, siblings, parents, and even stuffed animals. Kids will share with a teddy bear, give them a check-up, praise them for sharing, or make them some tea at a tea party. It’s not only adorable, but it’s a great way for kids to put into practice the interpersonal skills and dynamics they’re learning. (And if you catch them sounding just like you or your spouse, it’ll be an important reminder of the importance of not using colorful language and speaking nicely to people around the kiddos.) It encourages cooperation and conflict resolution. If your child and their friend want to be the same princess when they play, they may decide to take turns. Or your child may learn to play a game their older brother wants to play in exchange for a promise that they’ll play their game the next time.
How to Promote Pretend Play
When putting the suggestions below into practice, it can help to: Let kids play alone and with friends or with you. When kids play alone, they can create their own games and let their imaginations lead them. When they play with you or with friends, they work on social and emotional skills while they use their imaginations. Both are important and valuable. Let them lead. When you pretend-play with kids, try not to guide them. If they ask you for help or for ideas, you can suggest prompts. But as a general rule, let your child take the lead and figure out what and how you’ll play. Encourage them when they don’t follow instructions and use toys in new and creative ways. Sure, it’s fun to build the truck or building according to the instruction manual that comes with the Lego or Playmobil set. But it’s great when kids decide to mix and match parts from different sets to create their own designs and scenarios, too. Let your child know you love their creations and ideas. Not only does this activity encourage kids to pay attention to detail and be patient, it lets them make their imagination come to life. Plus, kids will love creating little movies using their toys and will love showing off their work at their movie “screening” during family movie night. And when parents join the fun, there’s even more good news: Research has shown that kids whose parents play with them are more likely to be happy and less likely to experience anxiety or depression. And since kids will likely want to stay in their fort most of the day, you’ll probably have to give them snacks or a sandwich while they’re holed up in the security of their fortress of fun. And the best part of kitchen play with big kids is that they can often help with real cooking and baking by doing tasks like helping measure and mix ingredients to bake something or tearing lettuce leaves or washing cherry tomatoes for a salad. These pretend play scenarios with stuffed toys often reflect what kids are picking up in their social interactions with the people around them, and what they observe in the relationships of people they know. In other words, if you encourage kindness and empathy in your child, you’re likely to see them being a caring pretend doctor or a chef who wants to please the people they’re feeding with healthy food. Common toys such as play stethoscopes or a small flashlight and Popsicle stick can help kids give stuffed toys checkups. Play food and some toy pots and pans or a toy kitchen can encourage kids to whip up great pretend meals. Or your child may just choose to put their stuffed toys to bed and read them a bedtime story. Whatever they choose to pretend, it’ll likely reflect parts of their own life and experience.
