I still remember the time in my childhood when some days I pretended to be a writer and there were also days when I pretended to be an actor or presenter. I am sure that all of you would agree with me that childhood is the best time since we can be everything we want. It was the time when we were all so naive, not having a care in the world.
Childhood has taken me down memory lane where I can still remember the times when whenever I went shopping with my mother, she would always insist that she buy me kitchen sets so that at night I could have my own tea parties. luxurious with my friends. Whereas if I talk about the guys around me (usually my cousins or friends) they always loved playing their favorite superhero by just putting their hands in the towel and tying it behind their back like a cape and pretending to save the world.
Little did I know that the role played during those times would play such an important role in helping me choose my career prospect (ie a content writer). All these plays helped me a lot to know my interest, I can say that since childhood I was inclined towards writing, be it poetry or essay.
Therefore, pretend play helps not only in shaping an individual’s personality, but also helps in developing other skills which I will discuss later in this article.
Without further ado, let’s discuss them one by one.
Socio-emotional skills
While you think that your child is playing and pretending to be someone else, that is the moment when your little one is experimenting with various social-emotional roles in life. When children play in a group, for example, while one person plays the role of a doctor in the group, the other friends choose different roles of patient, nurse and others. It is through this cooperative simulation game that children will not only mature, but also improve their self-confidence, self-awareness, and self-control. There are other games like cricket, basketball etc where kids learn that it is okay to lose and to be happy if the other team wins and sometimes it is okay to give someone else a turn. It is through these games that little ones learn to engage while interacting socially. Also, through these games, intentionally or not, they improve their socio-emotional skills and learn to be a responsible person, as well as learn empathy.
Communication skills
Have you ever caught your baby chatting with his stuffed toy or pretending to be on a phone call with his friend? If yes, you have probably heard them imitating you or using the phrases that you must hear for the first time or that you thought they never knew. Talking on the phone or with friends requires skill in creating scenarios, as well as skills in narrating them in a similar way to how they heard it. In doing so, they tend to repeat the same thing over and over again during the narrative, and whenever they find themselves speaking poorly, they correct themselves, which helps them develop their grammar and speaking skills.
The fantasy game is the one that allows your child to understand the language by recreating a story, this is how he learns the words, their pronunciation and understands their meaning.
Cognitive habilyties
Fantasy play is the only game where there are plenty of opportunities for children to think outside the box and stretch their cognitive abilities. Every time they plan a role play, it takes a lot of smiling mind to choose and finalize the role they want to play that day. Role play is the time when children recreate scenes from the past that they have seen on television or experienced in the past.
Let me cite an example here, when I was a child, whenever I was preparing for the pretend tea party at home, I used to decorate the table with the plastic kitchen set with all enthusiasm. Then after I did that I would take a beautiful duppatta from my mom’s wardrobe and wrap it around me like a sari and then unbeknownst to her I would wear her lipstick and mimic her actions, words and laughter with my friends at the birthday party. tea. .
overall development
In addition to the psychological, linguistic and socio-emotional benefits, pretend play also helps children’s physical development. When children try to play doctor, engineer, gymnast, athlete, dancer, officer chasing robbers, or pretend to be sitting on a horse and galloping through the fields, all of these activities involve being physically active, work with your hands. eye coordination and other skills. While doing all of this, kids may fall, scratch a little, but don’t worry, this will only make them stronger and give them an idea of what to do and what not to do. Furthermore, all these sports will not only be enjoyed by children but will also help in the overall development without even realizing it.
last word
Pretend play is the only game that keeps your little one curious and gives them the courage to become anyone they’ve ever seen or pretended to be. The fantasy game helps to enhance the imagination of the little ones and allows them to bring out their most intimate desires and fantasies. Therefore, help in the development of children at various levels, whether imaginative, socio-emotional, cognitive or we can say in the comprehensive development of the little ones.