Role Playing is More than Just Play for Children

Everyone has seen some type of role-playing by children. The cry of, “let’s pretend”, is commonly heard wherever little ones are found.  Children will become swashbuckling heroic figures or even animals from the jungle. Elephants, tigers, lions, and bears are all great roles that almost all children have tried out at one time or another.

Usually parents will notice this type of behaviour when a child is about age 2. While we may think that this is just typical childhood fun, there is much more to this role-playing behavior than just amusement. Researchers believe that this is actually a way that children develop many cognitive and social skills, and they consider this type of activity to be a milestone in their development. This is one of the ways that children test themselves in relation to the world.

Some children absolutely adore pretending to be super heroes, TV characters, or animals. Parents can take heart in the fact that studies are now showing that this activity may be even more important to younger kids than learning to count at a very early age. When children engage in role-playing they are learning how to interact with the environment and other people in many different ways. This helps them increase the activity in certain areas of the brain and parents should offer encouragement to these little entertainers.

For children it is easy to engage in pretend play at any time of day. An empty juice or milk carton can quickly become building blocks or even a truck to be pushed around the floor. A small branch can become a light saber or a sword and the child can become a fierce warrior who is battling to save the planet. Children are natural actors and they always the chance to have grand adventures that they script for themselves.

Dollhouses are another great way for young children to role-play and they mimic their parent’s behavior as they care for their doll family, and cook and clean the dolls’ home. Little girls, in particular, have great fun creating an entire world around their dollhouse. They will often pretend to be many characters other than just the Mum; and these include the roles of Dad, nanny, housekeeper or neighbour.

Dressing up in costumes is another way that children enjoy testing their imagination and role-playing abilities. Little girls have great fun dressing up in sparkling gowns and dresses and pretending to be princesses or movie stars. Little boys enjoy the chance to pretend that they are brave knights, fierce pirates, or flying heroes with super powers that can save the world. Costumes that they can wear add an extra excitement to these activities. While Halloween has long been a traditional time of costumed activity for most children, they actually love dressing up all during the year. If they have no costumes to use, they will hunt through closets and boxes for hats, shoes, and clothing to use in this imaginative type of play. 

This is an original news article © The Kids Window

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