There are many types of play and one of them is pretend or imaginary play. Many assume imaginative pretend play brings limited value to a child. However, that is not the case! It may look silly when your child picks up a stone and pretend it is the zooming car, but, as adults, we are constantly using imagination to solve problems, design and invent new things, enjoy a book or movie, and think creatively to come out with ideas.
Benefits of Pretend Play in Childs Development
1. Encourage imagination and creativity
A key benefit of early pretend play is its enhancement of a child's capacity for cognitive flexibility and ultimately, creativity. By playing pretend, children are given the opportunity to practice their imagination, exercise and train their brains to think creatively, and learn how to think for themselves. It also helps children understand from another point of view especially when they do role-play as a mom, dad, or even doctor.
2. Support social and emotional development
When a child is pretending to be different characters (a restaurant owner, for example!) or controlling objects in their own way and observing the results, they are practicing social and emotional roles of life. They learn how to walk in somebody else's shoes, develop empathy, and learn to be cooperative, especially when playing with other children.
Pretend play also helps to develop a child's self-awareness and self-esteem. It is the sense of freedom from the realization that you can be just anything during pretend play that gives children the confidence to experiment and test boundaries safely.
In group settings, pretend play allows children to experience and be expressive of their feelings, both negative and positive. They learn to regulate their emotions, how to deal with them positively, how to control their impulses, and learn good manners and positive behaviours.
3. Improve language and communication skills
Have you ever surprised yourself when your child come out with words or phrases you had no idea they knew? It's really amusing to listen to your children interact during pretend play as it allows children to experiment with and learn the power of language, and how it affects us and those around us.
Pretend play exposes children to new words, and the more scenarios they are introduced to, the wider the chance to expand their vocabulary. Which in turn, helps to reduce anxiety as language and situations become more familiar.
Through role play and imaginative play, children learn to choose their words carefully when relaying a message so that others can understand the message. And it also helps in their listening skills as they learn to listen properly to what others have to say! A great way to develop communication skills to later use in life during important discussions.
4. Develop thinking, learning, and problem-solving abilities
Due to pretend play nature, children are presented with a variety of scenarios and problems to solve or plan. The process of deciding what roles to take on, what materials are needed for the game, who will be involved, and what rules are applied, requires a deliberate thought process. This helps to enhance their cognitive thinking skills that they will find themselves using in every aspect of life all the way through to adulthood.
Pretend play also helps in forming memories. Children make use of images that they have created in their minds to recreate past experiences during pretend play. This form of abstract thinking can help children work out what has happened in any acted-out scenarios, learn how to gather and manage their thoughts and reactions, and mentally solve problems that they may have encountered in these scenarios so that they know how to overcome any problems next time.
5. Enhance physical development
Other than developing their cognitive skills, pretend play enhances children's physical development as it is often very physical, which is a great way for children to stay active, exercise, and develop their motor skills.
Gross motor skills are put to good use when "firefighters" climb up the ladders, "pilots" run around flying their airplanes or when would-be Olympic athletes and gymnasts put their skills to the test on school grounds.
Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination are improved as children try to dress up dolls or give out coins to pay for items they "bought" in a shop.
Browse here for our range of pretend play toys that we think your child might like!
