5 Reasons Why Pretend Play Is Good for Children

Pretend play is any game or activity that requires children to think for themselves to create entertainment and fun. Many children participate in pretend play using household items. For example, some kids use remote controls as makeshift cell phones. Other children pretend that a fort of blankets and chairs is a castle. To assist children in their make-believe endeavors, many companies design toys that are easy to integrate into a pretend play environment. Regardless of how children go about make-believe, the educational, social, and personal benefits of pretend play are beyond comparison.

The History of Pretend Play

Pretend play is as old as human civilization. For thousands of years, creating fantasies was the only way that children could play. Especially among the peasant classes, children had very little time to play, but children took every opportunity to think beyond their simple existence. Only recently have inventions such as television, video games, and the Internet persuaded children to give up the ancient art of make-believe.

The Importance of Pretend Play

Many parents believe that technological activities are suitable replacements for hands-on pretend play. This perspective is understandable because video games and Internet games suck children into otherworldly situations that took a lot of imagination to conceive. However, the imagination was done by

professional game designers rather than the children themselves. Although such games have a place in modern childhood, they are not adequate replacements for pretend play. Kids need opportunities to imagine, and they need to start from scratch. Usually by age three, children begin to talk about imaginary friends and made-up scenarios. Parents usually get a good laugh from such tales, but pretend play provides so much more than humor for grown-ups. Consider these seven benefits of pretend play.

1. Language Skills

Pretend play requires children to invent scenarios and tell stories. Since almost all children narrate their pretend play experiences, they train their minds to transform ideas into words. Children usually mimic words and ideas heard at home, school, and daycare, even if they don't know the precise meanings. However, repetition builds vocabulary and helps kids visualize what they say, especially when adults offer feedback to help kids better understand the words they use. Kids who participate in pretend play tend to have an advanced understanding of grammar as well. They probably do not know the rules, but they train themselves to speak the way that adults do. Tenses and strange nuances are less difficult for children who make-believe. As children's language skills improve, they can create more and more exciting scenarios. Thus, pretend play begins a cycle of imagination that feeds back into itself.

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2. Social Skills

Whether playing with a real friend or an imaginary character, pretend play requires kids to look outside of their own needs and desires. It helps children learn compassion, empathy, and understanding. Outgoing children learn the proper boundaries of interaction through modeling, and shy kids get to practice social interaction within their comfort zone. Indeed, mock social situations remind children of how grown-ups in their own lives treat those around them. Parents who are aware of this can impact their children's social habits for the better by setting a positive example.

3. Self-Control

Young kids typically have little self-control. However, children of previous generations usually had greater self-mastery; one reason is that kids do not engage in enough pretend play anymore. During pretend play, children have to take a role and play within those boundaries, especially when other kids are involved. Studies show that children control their impulses significantly better during pretend play than at other times. For this reason, transforming an unappealing task into a make-believe game is a popular trick among clever parents and educators.

4. Problem Solving Skills

Role playing games lead children to face situations that far exceed kids' real-life experiences. Children have to find solutions to dilemmas that they create, usually situations related to things they observe in their parents' lives. Therefore, solutions often mimic those that parents choose in similar circumstances. Although kids may not always act logically during tough pretend dilemmas, the very process of problem solving becomes habitual. By practicing problem solving in an artificial environment, kids are better prepared to think of creative solutions to their own real-life problems.

5. Educational Comprehension

Children are more likely to learn difficult and uninteresting material when parents and teachers transform those lessons into games that are fun and engaging. One example of this is trying to teach kids addition and subtraction. To liven up these lessons, teachers can create a pretend grocery store. Students can use pretend fruit and vegetables to learn new math skills. Instead of doing problems on paper, kids can show their new understanding by pretending they are cashiers at the store. The teacher can ask students to bag two apples, then three more apples. Kids can see with their own eyes that

three apples added to two apples equals five total apples in the bag. This kind of learning doesn't just stop in the classroom. Many students would keep practicing that math lesson at home with or without a formal homework assignment.

Pretend play is an excellent source of creativity, insight, and maturity for young children. Toys that come to life through the imaginations of young children develop internal and external skills. As children increase the amount of time and energy they spend in the world of make-believe, they become more well-rounded. In pursuit of these benefits, parents, educators, and others often turn to Lottytoys to find a great selection of pretend play toys.