Pretending to Play

A group of children are playing in a corner of their class. Adya has draped a duppata like a sari. Rajat sits on a chair with a ring in his hand. He is using it as a steering wheel of a car. He turns the wheel and says he is off to office and will come back home late in the evening. Adya makes a face and says - you are late every day.  

As parents and teachers we have seen children participate in make believe play. They use a block to pretend that it is a car or act like a teacher. Pretend play is defined as a type of play where children adopt roles from real life situations and then act them out.

While a lay person may consider this kind of play as frivolous, research has proved that pretend play builds many skills supports development. It increases their understanding of the world they live in and helps them acquire social skills.

Dramatic play enhances development in the following domains:

Cognitive –Make-believe play supports abstract and symbolic thinking. They recall real life situations to recreate experiences. They also learn to use objects to represent other objects. 

Language –To participate in pretend play children use language to interact with others and enact their roles. This expands their vocabulary and their ability to carry out meaningful conversations

Social –Emotional – When children engage in group pretend play they decide on what situation they will recreate from their everyday life, which role each child will play and cooperate to act it out together. By recreating real life experiences they learn about norms of social interactions and group dynamics.

Physical – As children act out different adult roles they develop both gross and fine motor skills

Teachers and school owners can support pretend play by providing a proper environment for it. A dedicated area should be set aside either in a corner of the classroom or in as a separate room for pretend play.  Any pretend play area should:

• Be aesthetically appealing and inviting.
• Inspire creative and imaginative play.
• Be equipped with furniture, materials and props that stimulate role play
• Help children recreate real life situations by acting as a stage setting to act these out
• Be changed periodically by adding or replacing furniture and props to provide variety and keep alive children’s interests

The pretend play area can include one or more of the following settings:

• Kitchen and living room
• Restaurant
• Grocery/vegetable/fruit shop
• Doctor’s clinic