What exactly is imaginative play?
Imaginative or pretend play means playing without rules and structure, dropping the musts and shoulds, and giving free rein is extremely liberating for children. Children (and siblings or parents) can use any type of props or ordinary items from the house and make them into something else using their imagination. As shown in this blog, this type of play holds importance in every household because of all its benefits and the joy that it will bring to your little ones and the whole family. You will also find a helpful and inspiring list of activities to incorporate more imaginative play in day-to-day life.
Why is imaginative play important?
Did you know that imaginative play is a vital component of normal child development and should be encouraged as much as possible? It gives children the opportunities to grow, learn and imagine.
A child sees the world differently and that’s the beauty of being a child. What we see every day is perceived differently from a child’s perspective. When children engage in imaginative play and venture to far-off worlds or become different characters, they boost their own creativity by thinking out of the box and imagining something completely unique. When parents get involved, they can bring out their inner-child and also relax and have fun while spending quality time and bonding with their child. This leads us to discuss the benefits of this type of play.
Benefits of imaginative play for children:
According to Playwhizz and miracle-recreation.com imaginative or pretend play:
- Promotes social and emotional development: role-playing as other characters means that children practice what it’s like to be someone else. This helps them develop understanding and empathy for others. When children play pretend with others, skills are worked on such as co-operation, negotiation, collaboration, and sharing of responsibilities.
- It tests their boundaries and makes them learn to control impulses and experiment with social interaction.
- Pretending can give children the confidence to be anything they want, thus it helps a child’s self-esteem.
- It fosters creativity in a safe space and allows them to act out scenarios.
- Promotes physical development such as hand-eye development and motor skills
- Allows children an opportunity to practice and develop their language and social skills
- It boosts the development of problem-solving and self-regulation skills.
- It’s a fun way to teach positive behaviour to children.
- Imaginative play is fun and it helps children learn important life skills.
- This type of play helps children make sense of their world by practicing skills and interactions they observe in the real world.
Imaginative play ideas:
According to Playwhizz and miracle-recreation.com
- Use toys to assist with imaginative play e.g. soft toys, dolls, dolls house, cars, building with lego
- Use household items e.g. blankets to make forts; cardboard boxes can be used to make a house, a car, a rocket etc.
- Children love to pretend-play scenarios and mimic parents e.g. being at school, at the supermarket, at a restaurant, pretending to be an animal, princess, knight, or a racing car driver.
- Make or use puppets and create stories with them
- Use felt boards with felt themes such as seasons, or special occasions
- Use a dress-up box and become anyone you want to be
- Getting outside in nature opens up so many imagination possibilities even if outside is just the garden or porch
- Have reading routines and storytelling times as books open imagination through stories
- Encourage arts and crafts projects and let your child guide the ideas if he/she chooses
Now that you know all about imaginative play, we hope that you start having more fun with your child from today!
Reference:
The importance of imagination in child development miracle-recreation.com/blog/importance-of-imagination-in-child-development/
Images by envanto.elements.com
