One day, my kids were playing with miniature Lalaloopsy ® dolls. They had three dolls, one of which had a princess crown on her head. They had determined that this was the most special of the three dolls, and were arguing about who would get to play with that one.
“Hey girls, can I play with you?” I asked.
“Yes!” They cried.
“Ok, let’s pretend that each of these Lalaloopsies is queen of a different island.” I placed each doll on a different piece of furniture in the room. “I’ll be queen of the sandy island,” I said as I chose the doll with the crown. “You girls can be the other two queens.” They agreed.
Over the course of play, I described a situation in which the three islands were at war with each other because they were all trying to gain special favor with the queen of the sandy island. Through play, we came up with compromises and peace treaties which involved sharing, turn-taking, and cooperation. I was able to teach these important life lessons without resorting to speeches, arguing, or discipline.
When you engage in pretend play with your kids, you can help them form more accurate ideas about how the world works. When they practice other roles and behaviors (that of adults, animals, etc), they better understand our society, culture and the world. This improved world view allows them to incorporate new knowledge more easily into their existing understanding of the world.
Early psychologist (1930’s – 1980’s) Lev Vygotsky theorized that children learn through social and cultural environments. That is, they learn from interacting with others. Contemporary psychologists call this “social construction of meaning”. Adults can help kids learn about the world through “mediated learning experiences”.
Here are ten pretend play activities to try with your kids:
- Business owner. Examples: Pizza Restaurant, Ice Cream Shop, Grocery Store
- School. Examples: Preschool Teacher, School Teacher, College Professor
- Animals. Examples: Dolphins, Birds, Rabbits, Lions, etc.
- Performance. Examples: Theater Play, Dance Show, Music Performance, Puppets
- Civic Jobs. Examples: Police, Firefighter, Mail Carrier
- Historic Figures. Examples: Presidents, Kings/Queens, Inventors
- Fantasy. Examples: Unicorns, Fairies, Aliens
- Adventure. Examples: Pirates, Astronauts, Explorers
- Medical. Examples: Doctor, Dentist, Nurse (great with dolls)
- Family. Examples: Mom, Dad, Grandma, Baby
Playing home and family
For an added benefit, you can incorporate craft and writing activities into pretend play. For example, when I play Birds with my kids, we make paper worms for the mama bird to feed her young in the nest. When we play Mail Carrier, I have them write letters and address the envelopes (we use stickers for stamps).
So, consider saying those two magical words that every child loves to hear:
“Let’s pretend…”