The Importance of Pretend Play

Pretend play is a form of symbolic play where children use objects, actions or ideas to represent other objects, actions, or ideas using their imaginations to assign roles to inanimate objects or people. Toddlers begin to develop their imaginations, with sticks becoming boats and brooms becoming horses.

Through playing with new activities, games, or acting out pretend-play situations, children can try out new things, practice tasks they’ve seen adults do, and explore so many new things. This all leads to gaining self-confidence and resilience.

When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. He also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!

Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.

Not enough pretend play at your house? These are many good pretent play toys can help child into the pretent play with their friends.

• Mermaid kids castle tent ( imagine they are mermaid in ocean)

• Dinosaur kids play house (imagine they are hero in age of Dinosaurs)

• Night forest kids teepee

• Unicorn shape pop up tent

• Icecream house tent