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First Year > Play & Activities You might think of pretend play involving games like building a fort or chasing monsters on the playground. But imaginative activities involve more than just fantasy, and even young babies can (and should!) be invited to participate. The key is making the fun age appropriate. Long before your child graduates to pretending to be a firefighter or hosting tea parties, she’ll explore role playing in her earliest back-and-forth interactions with you. Here’s how to get the imaginative fun started at any age, and how your child (and you!) will benefit from doing so. What is pretend play?Pretend or imaginative play is a type of play that lets children experiment with different roles. It can involve make-believe games or dressing up — anything from sailing on a cardboard ship, to cooking an imaginary meal, to putting on grown-up clothes and “going to work.” Toys like play food, action figures, vehicles or dress-up clothes can certainly foster pretend play. But they’re not a requirement — and in fact, using simple objects that don’t have defined purposes forces children to think more creatively. A bucket filled with leaves can be a cauldron of soup; a laundry basket can be an airplane; a pile of pillows can be a mountain. What’s more, this kind of social exploration can start long before your little dreamer is capable of imagining herself as a teacher or a soccer star. Simply engaging in back-and-forth conversations with your baby offers a chance for infants to try out different social roles. What are the benefits of imaginative play?It might not come as much surprise that pretend play fosters your child’s creativity and curiosity. And in fact, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Especially in toddlerhood and beyond, imaginative play is crucial for helping kids cultivate important life skills. Pretend play can:
When should I start encouraging pretend play with my child?It’s never too early to invite your child to use her imagination. While playtime doesn’t involve typical make-believe games until later toddlerhood, young babies are ready to start exploring different social roles with you from birth, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). That can mean watching you smile or make faces or having back-and-forth conversations where you repeat or answer your baby’s sounds. How to encourage imaginative play for babies and toddlersLet’s get ready to pretend! You can start helping your cutie flex her imagination muscles shortly after she’s born — and keep right on going through preschool and beyond. How to encourage pretend play: 0-24 monthsBabies and younger toddlers might not yet have the capacity to imagine themselves as a dinosaur or doctor. But they can still participate in social play and practice taking on different roles. Have rollicking conversations with your infant and invite her to explore different objects in her surroundings. As she reaches her first birthday, shift the focus to modeling the actions and behaviors she’ll learn as a toddler — like introducing herself to new people and sharing toys.
How to encourage pretend play: 2-3 yearsBy age 2, your child’s capacity for imaginative play is beginning to grow. But she can still use some guidance with getting started. Be ready to offer ideas, but once she gets interested, play along and let her take the lead!
How to encourage pretend play: 3-5 yearsAround her third birthday, get ready for your child to really start running the imagination play show. Now that her brain is developed enough to come up with make-believe stories, she’ll take off exploring new roles and scenarios with less prompting on your part. All you need to do is join in her world.
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