Let Kids Be Kids! How Pretend Play Benefits Your Child
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Let Kids Be Kids! How Pretend Play Benefits Your Child

Role play is a powerful tool that teaches the intricacies of dealing with people and real life scenarios. For children, role play is responsible for building confidence, creativity, communication skills, physical development and problem solving skills. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of pretend play and how you can do this easily at home.

Life is a Game of Roses

We all enjoy playing roles in our lives, even as parents: we’re either the knight fighting to instill goodness in a shining armour, the deranged scientist out to investigate that strange fever, or the fairy godmother who never stops giving. Like everything else, though, we need preparation and training before we can become good at doing certain things – after all, practice makes perfect. The same goes for your children. What this means is that the more mistakes they make, the more learning points there would be. Along the same vein, pretend play can be a very powerful educational tool that teaches your children how the real world works.

Let the Good Things Begin

Pretend play can also increase the bond between parent and child, creating a stable and nurturing relationship. The cognitive, social, emotional and language development that results from such imaginative play helps instill a strong foundation for stress management and increased emotional awareness and resilience. Why, pretend play can even go as far as to:

  • decrease anxiety
  • improve learning ability
  • reduce disruptive behaviours
  • increase literary understanding
  • increase emotional competence 
  • practice and develop negotiation and sharing skills
  • express feelings more effectively
  • exercise logical reasoning skills
  • improve concentration and focus

It is truly an important activity that brings about many benefits to you and your child.

How to Pretend Play With Your Child At Home

Pretend play is a form of improv, and without realising it, most children are already doing it. As they see adults speak and act, children tend to mimic their actions with their own toys and props, and form their own storylines. At home, you can create a fun role playing exercise with your child in a few easy ways.

1. The story

Think about what scenario you want to act out with your child. One common trope is a doctor-and-patient story, where the child is usually the doctor. Knowing the story helps you plan out the number of characters, what items you need to set the stage and how the conversations will pan out. Involve your child in building this story as this cultivates a creative and imaginative mindset – perfect for pretend play.

2. The stage

For children, anywhere can be the main stage. On a battlefield? No problem, the living room will do. Exploring an underwater shipwreck, the bed and blankets work perfectly! You can even get kids play curtains such as this kitchen themed set to create a more realistic scenario.

Kids can be ingenious, and anything around the house such as storage compartments or old t-shirts can become something important in their imagination.

3. The rules

Setting clear rules and objectives in a pretend play session can make this more like a well-planned game rather than something random. One way this would work well is when you’re teaching your child how to react in dangerous situations. For example, you can set the stage for a kidnapping and pretend to be the kidnapper. You can then set guidelines to help your child learn how to react in a safe and effective manner. 

Play Better with Palette Box

Play acting would be rather boring without handy toys, useful furniture and other resources, but you don’t need to lose out on the benefits of pretend play. At Palette Box, you’ll find an extensive collection of modular and customisable furniture and accessories that can form the foundation of the wildest imagination. Beds like the Manis-h Kids Middle Loft Bed can easily become a castle fortress, or you can also turn the various bedding sets into something unique and fun. 

Enjoy free shipping with a minimum purchase of just $75, or head down to our showroom to take a look at our quality baby and children’s lifestyle products today!

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