Superman today?
Maybe a Pirate?
A Doctor seems good.
Does your kid enjoy a different get-up each day? Like, he zooms past you, with a cape and sword like stick in his hand trying to save the day? Does he want to ‘save’ you by using his tiny fingers as stethoscope over and over? Well, he is that ‘enthu-kid’ who enjoys pretend play. And this is amazing!
At around 8 months, when he or she becomes familiar with objects and actions through observing and exploring the surroundings, a child’s symbolic thinking begins developing and this has several stages. A child uses the concept of pretense with real-life objects; for example, pretending to talk on an actual phone. When a child is around 18 months of age, he or she begins to engage in pretend play. At this stage, child uses one object to represent another. Anything that catches the child’s fancy – the box becomes his toys garage or the doll house. Furthermore, this play is mostly solitary, assigning roles to inanimate objects.
As children reach the preschool age (typically 3-5 years), they evolve a step further from pretense to enacting role plays. We can observe societal influence in these make-believe plays. At this stage, they are capable of assigning various roles to themselves and others; for example, pretending to have a tea party or pretending to be in a classroom.
Children may take on real-world roles, other times they may take on fantasy roles. In any case, it is a play that involves breaking down the barriers of reality and results in serious and natural learning.
The term pretend play refers to the nature of their play – pretending to use a real object or pretending to be someone else. It refers to a child’s ability to use objects and actions to represent other objects and actions as play. A child using a bedsheet as a superhero cape or using a stick as a gun, and a child hosting a tea party for dolls are some examples of this type of play. This type of play usually involves imagination, pretending and imitation.
“Role play” is a subset of “pretend play”, since pretend play doesn't necessarily mean that you're trying to act like you're someone other than yourself. Also, role play and pretend play vary mainly in their structure.
Broadly, there are two kinds of dramatic/pretend play-structured and unstructured. Structured dramatic play involves children being presented with a pre-determined scenario and then left to discover solutions. Unstructured dramatic play gives children the freedom to choose their own roles and play scenarios. Both kinds are vital to enhance the developmental skills of a child.
Read our blog on the benefits of dramatic play here- Inside the drama-Benefits of dramatic play
How can parents encourage dramatic play: Quick tips
- Let them imagine: Objects of daily life- empty cardboard boxes for creating a "home", old clothes, shoes, backpacks, hats, old telephones, phone books, magazines, cooking utensils, dishes, food containers, table napkins, fabric pieces, blankets, or old sheets for making costumes or a fort and the list goes on-these are all open ended materials that the child can creatively use to play dramatically. Do not intervene, let them do it themselves.
- Use festivals as opportunities: India is a land of festivals, rich in tales and fables. Many festivals like Janmashtami, Dusshera, Diwali have significant stories attached to them. Let your child dress as Krishna, Ram, Ravana, Sita, Radha and execute the drama. Not only do they enjoy the costume role play, they remain attached to their rich roots.
- Participate but less: Be the student if your child asks to teach you, or a patient if he wishes to treat you or go to the tea-party she has invited you to. Otherwise, let them do it independently and explore.
DO NOT WORRY!
Well honestly, handling your toddler's pretend play might pose few realistic perplexities. Like what do you do when she insists on wearing her cat costume to preschool (for the third day in a row) because she wants to ‘meow and be friends’ with the kitten she meets every day on her way to school? How do you handle a reluctant ‘Your highness’ to return to the ‘kingdom’ and defeat the monster later just in time for dinner?
Remember that toddlers haven't yet learned that there are boundaries between real and pretend, public and private. There will be a lot of opportunities to teach those lessons as your child grows up. Just follow your instincts at the moment and act fluid. Try to be flexible, within the limits of what's safe.
Many toddlers (maybe yours too) seldom invent an imaginary friend. Relax, for this doesn't mean he/she's lonely or that his/her fantasy-world has taken over or there is something wrong. Researchers suggest that the invention of an imaginary friend signals that a child is creative and social. That imaginary friend gives him/her a way to express herself, problem-solve and add new dimensions to her symbolic play. What you can do is play along. "Befriend" her imaginary pal, take an interest in how they play together and give the necessary push to your child’s imagination and creativity.
So go ahead… give flight to their imagination..!