It is heartening to know that the value of imaginative and pretend play is well-established among psychologists, teachers, behavioral scientists, brain experts, and many parents. I’d like to share 16 important reasons for you to carve out time for your children to crank up their imaginations and play!
1. Emotional Development
Through imaginative and pretend play, kids grapple with their feelings, thoughts, confusions, wishes, and fears. By “grappling,” they learn!
2. Social Development
Children learn how to deal with one another through imaginative and pretend play. Role-play involves negotiating, reading social cues, self-restraint, decision-making, sharing, caring, and taking turns. That’s a whole lot of complex social skills!
3. Language Skills
Throughout the process of play, kids need to make their ideas clear, promoting vocabulary growth and communication skills. Children learn not only language, but body language, as well.
4. Self-esteem
By creating their own world, children become the active “creator.” They’re no longer chained to their real size, age, and dependency on adults. This is quite reassuring and relaxing for them.
5. Empathy
As kids pretend to be someone else, they get a sense of how it feels to be someone else. This leads to the discovery of “others,” and how these others feel.
6. Experimentation, Innovation & “Mistakes”
What is the safest environment for a child to experiment and brainstorm in, and even make mistakes in? The environment he or she has created! Imaginative play leads to all sorts of unexpected discoveries. Sometimes it can even lead a child to his or her ultimate passion in life.