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Why You Would Like Your Child
to Have Lots of Pretend Play
If you are one of the adults who doubts that pretend play can be stimulating for children, then think again. Research has shown that children who spend more time in dramatic play have a more advanced intellectual development.
Why is that ?
To answer this question, let's first see how young children, preschooler in particular, learn. Children learn from experience: from what happens around them, from what they see, they hear, they smell, they taste and they touch.
In order for a preschooler to absorb those experiences and make sense of the world, she has to be engaged in a pretend play.
Take a trip to a doctor for example. Don't think that your preschooler does not learn by watching the office reception, the way the doctor examines her, the way the nurse weighs her , and so on. To remember and reinforce what she has experienced, your preschooler will try to re-enact that trip with her friend the next day. In play, she practices to weigh the doll, takes the temperature and so on.
That's how young children learn.
But dramatic play does not only stimulate intellectual development. There are other benefits of pretend play. This play supports:
- Social and language skills: Children practice sharing, turn taking, and negotiating skills. New vocabulary pertinent to that particular play theme will also be practiced.
- Creativity and imagination: During imaginative play, children can be anyone and can do anything -- even the impossible like flying. In the world of pretend play, children can be anyone and do anything.
- Emotional strength: Children will be able to understand and manage certain feelings by re-enacting episodes. In addition, pretend play enhances children's ability to empathize.
- Discipline: In play, children practice rules. She can be a disciplinarian who tells off her teddy for making a mess and refuse to clean it. Having been a disciplinarian herself, she will be encouraged to discipline herself.
So, always support your child's imaginative play. Since dramatic play is not only fun .... it's also great for your child's development.
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More on imaginative play ....
Tips to support your child's dramatic play
Pretend play toys and supplies
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