Pretend Playing- What is it? Why is it Important for Your Child’s Development?

Congratulations! You’ve either just become a parent or are looking to take care of a little one in your care. Fret not! We are going to tell you the best way to connect and play with your little one. Pretend playing is not only easy to do and fun for kids, but it’s also great for your little one’s cognitive development. 

What’s more, you can use any educational toy or learning toy to get into this play! This make-believe play is fun for everyone involved! But first..

What is Pretend Playing?

Pretend playing is when you make up random identities. You then mimic/characterize how those personalities will act with your little one. 

Let’s face it, most of us are guilty of making cat or dog sounds, or even trying to act like a cartoon character that we love. This whole game of make-believe play is actually called pretend playing. 

For kids, this starts from trying to do whatever the adults around them are doing. It could be using a block as a phone or plate to eat food. 

Children use their learning toys for imaginative play all the time, have you seen this yet?

Look closely, you’ll notice that this is how children learn everything. 

Importance of Pretend Playing

Pretend playing is not about keeping your young ones busy, it’s about allowing them to experience something new! Consider a child who sees you use your cell phone all the time, he/she is going to copy that action. Imaginative play with the use of learning toys is very popular amongst kids.

New Experiences Right at Home

Your toddler is in the learning stages. Whatever they see and want to imitate, it will help them learn something new. Whether it is roaring out loud like a dinosaur or a lion or pretending to run a toy truck- pretend play is important for children.

Your younger kid will learn how to grasp things (improve their motor skills!), the older lot will learn how to act out in different spaces.

Triggering Wild Imagination

We are not talking about everything that your kid can imagine. Remember, this imagination later transforms into creativity and good decision-making in practical life.

Imaginative play helps them play out a lot of things that they observe in daily life. 

With pretend playing, your child can make things act like something else- a sort of substitution. Imagine a building block as a cellphone or a car! Or if you have the proper toys, like a truck or a helicopter, they can literally imagine driving that thing while moving around in their nursery!

Learning How to do Things on Their Own

Children need to learn how to do things on their own. No matter how much you don’t want them to, they will grow!

Pretend playing is going to help your child learn how to use plates, cups, and glasses. Your child will learn how to make something or how to help someone, make-believe play will help them. It’s all you, you the wonderful grown-up who’s helping them be their best selves!

Discovering How to Act Out in Different Situations

From playing doctor to playing teacher, acting like a princess or a superhero, your child is going to develop priceless neural connections in their brain! You can create a fun shop too where you play store with kids.

Your child would learn how to act and what to do in different social situations. You can even witness what they’re grasping from viewing your behavior. Children tend to mimic their surrounding adults, specifically adults that they admire.

The best toys you can get for them are those that help them in playing pretend, learning toys definitely fit the bill!

Vocabulary Increment

The most easily seen change with pretend playing is the sudden increase in the use of new words. Your little one would learn new words corresponding to the new pretend play they engaged in!

Get Your Child to Play Pretending Games With You!

We have gathered some make-believe games to help you out! Just pick one and use it with your little one. You and your little one are bound to have some great fun!

Start With Toys

Does your child have any toys that they can use to pretend play? Do they have a doctor set that they can use to pretend to be a doctor? If they do, that’s great! You can become this cute little one’s grumpy patient. Go ahead and act your heart out. These teeny tiny doctors might just heal your heart.

You can also get started with planting a garden. Get a garden play set, if you don’t have one already. Help your little one grow a garden. The habit of growing plants with a game will go a long way in making sure that they plant a real tree!

You can play with a truck set or a bulldozer to help spin your imaginations further.

Play without Special Toys

Buying new toys for every pretend play is not necessary! You can use a set of safe utensils to pretend to cook and serve! A tea party isn’t just for the bunnies and mini figurines that your little one has, you can join in too!

Make a Fort!

Forts will help you and your little one play out so many make-believe games! You can pretend to play ‘house’. You can have a play date and leave a bunch of kids in the fort. The kids can make up teams and whatnot! The possibilities with a fort are endless. Let your child’s imagination run wild, whatever imaginative play they come up with, it’s going to be great fun! 

Make a Shop for Pretend Shopping

You can use any tabletop or just arrange a bunch of boxes into stacks. Fill those boxes up with a toy. Now your little one had a shop that they can pretend to manage. Look at that, you’re playing store with kids! Your whole family can get into this fun!

Are You Going to Play Pretend With Your Kid Now?

Pretend playing is an important part of a child’s development. Pretend playing not only plays a huge role in forming new vocabulary, it also helps with the development of experiences. 

You can play a number of pretend games with your little one even with their learning toys. You don’t need to buy a new toy set to play these games. You just have to be with your little one when they let loose their creativity.