A large empty cardboard box can become almost anything: a pirate ship, a doghouse, a castle, or a train. The nice thing about dramatic play is that it requires only your imagination. When you engage in pretend play with your child, you are teaching important skills and strengthening the relationships that are the foundation for all learning. Promote vocabulary and language by introducing and teaching your child the names of props. Ask questions and read stories about topics that your child uses in their dramatic play, such as buying new shoes or going to the clinic.
Encourage your child to explore print, letters and words by placing writing tools and paper in the Dramatic Play area. Encourage your child to use writing tools and paper as part of their play. Offer props such as telephone books or empty food boxes with labels. Promote understanding of books and other texts by including story books, phone books, calendars, cookbooks, newspapers, magazines, and other print materials in the Dramatic Play area.
Encourage your child to use these props in their play. Promote understanding of number concepts by asking number questions. Offer props such as play money, scales, measuring tapes, cash registers, and calculators. Encourage your child to explore physical science by providing balance scales, eggbeaters, kitchen magnets, timers, and fishing rods without hooks. Talk about what kinds of foods are good to eat. Have your child name fruits and vegetables as they pretend.
Explore concepts related to people and how they live by providing props that encourage them to role-play family life and different kinds of jobs. Display photographs of families and community helpers. Encourage your child to explore drama by teaching them the skills they need to pretend. Read and reread stories that children can act out. Promote the visual arts by providing materials your child needs to make their own props for dramatic play, such as cardboard boxes, collage materials, construction paper, scissors, etc.
Talk with your child about how these objects are used. When your child engages in dramatic play with other children, they have to negotiate roles, agree on a topic, and cooperate to portray different situations.
They recreate life experiences and try to cope with their emotions by acting out roles and situations that interest them. For example, a child who anticipates going to the hospital for an operation can pretend to be the doctor. By assuming this role, the child can switch from feeling out of control to being in charge. Research shows that children who engage in dramatic play tend to demonstrate more empathy toward others because they have tried out being someone else for a while.
They have the skills to cooperate with peers, control impulses, and are less aggressive than children who do not engage in this type of play. Children develop small-muscle skills when they button and snap dress-up clothes and dress dolls.
They practice eye-hand coordination and visual discrimination skills when they put away props and materials. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others.
He also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending! Thinking Skills Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.
Does your child enjoy a bit of roughhousing? Some researchers in early brain development believe that this sort of play helps develop the part of the brain the frontal lobe that regulates behavior. So instead of worrying that this type of activity will encourage him to act out or become too aggressive, be assured that within a monitored situation , roughhouse play can actually help your child learn the self-regulation skills needed to know how and when this type of play is appropriate.
Nurturing the Imagination Not enough pretend play at your house? Consider creating a prop box or corner filled with objects to spark your preschooler's fantasy world. You might include:. Parents Store Cart. School Success. There are so many benefits to dramatic play, including how much fun it is… so here are just a few more:.
These are all skills that will help your child as they grow and prepare for big school, and at Cherry Bridge Station we provide a safe and inclusive environment where children can learn through creative play while exercising their active imaginations. Follow Us. CALL: Early Learning. May 3, There are so many benefits to dramatic play, including how much fun it is… so here are just a few more: Developing social interaction skills.
Relieving emotional tension and stress. Children can work out stress and anxiety through dramatic play.
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