Toddlers between 1 and 3 years old are very curious about the world around them. They learn a lot from what they see, hear and feel.
Have you ever wondered why they can pick up a wooden block and pretend it’s an airplane, or grab a wooden stick like it’s a microphone? It’s just their way of learning – they learn by using their imagination.
Young children can use an object that embodies something else and give it action and movement. This is called role-playing. Although it sounds simple, role-playing is very important to complete the developmental stages.
There are various ways in which a young child can pretend. While playing the role of a doctor who saves lives, wears a tutu and dances like a ballerina or creates a makeshift house and behaves like mom and dad. Role-playing can help your child discover new play ideas, stimulate his emotional and mental development. It also develops their capacity for empathy and cooperative play and allows them to think creatively and problem solve.
Why should role-playing be encouraged?
As a parent, you may be wondering why role play is important and why it should be encouraged. Here are the reasons.
Role play develops creative thinking and imagination.
Several studies have shown that role play builds your child’s cognitive abilities and creativity. By focusing on pretend play, young children get the opportunity to exercise their imaginations, allow their brains to think creatively, and ultimately learn to understand the world around them on their own.
Imagination is simply not child’s play. It is also a cognitive skill that gives us the ability to solve problems in creative ways, and this skill is essential not only for young children, but for adults as well. Therefore, it is very important for a child to develop this skill early in life.
Albert Einstein said, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.” This is very true because the development of the imagination during our tender years has made us capable of performing tasks that are necessary for our daily lives. As adults, we use our imaginations to solve complex life situations, make plans for our future, discover new things in life and improve our lives.
Role playing stimulates emotional and social development.
When young children control toys in their own special way, or pretend to be someone else by assuming the character of a doctor, teacher, policeman, soldier, etc. they are simply exploring the emotional and social roles they may take on later in life. Their minds are trying to grasp the idea of them as individuals and how they can fit into this world as individuals.
Playing pretend also encourages empathy, giving them a glimpse of what life is like when they put themselves in someone else’s shoes. If they learn to show empathy, they will eventually learn to cooperate and take responsibility.
Although young children have selfish tendencies, which is perfectly normal, imaginative play will allow them to mature and respond assertively to others. Imagine a group of young children pretending to play as family members living in a house. This will encourage young children to turn their backs on moments of selfishness and begin to cooperate or collaborate with others.
As well as developing their sense of empathy and cooperation, role play can also develop their sense of self, self-esteem, self-confidence and control of emotions.
Role playing can improve communication skills.
Role play and imaginative play allow young children to test and explore the power of language and communication. This will give them the idea that words can be used to send their thoughts and ideas to other people.
Playing pretend is a great way to introduce young children to new vocabulary. So if they play new scenarios, they will learn new words. Take, for example, a group of young children playing the roles of doctor, nurse and patient. These children can spend all their playtime learning new words related to the work in the hospital.
By engaging in role play and imaginative play, young children can begin to develop their vocabulary so that they can express their thoughts and feelings in a positive way. This will also encourage them to listen to what the other toddlers would like to say so that they can get along. This is a very important skill to learn as early as possible.
Role playing can improve cognitive abilities.
By taking part in this kind of game, young children will have to think, learn and solve problems depending on the scenarios or games they want to play. They will be forced to think about what games they want to play, what roles they need to take on, what materials or toys they need, and how they can solve a “pretend problem” that comes up while playing the game. This will help children develop cognitive skills they can use as a young child and throughout their adult life.
Because memories are formed during pretend play, young children can use these memories to recreate past encounters while playing an imaginary game. This abstract thinking will help them understand what will happen during a particular scenario, manage their thoughts and feelings, and help solve any problems they may encounter.
Role playing can contribute to physical growth.
The game of pretend is often very physical because it requires them to move their bodies in accordance with the scenarios they have in mind. This will help them develop their fine and gross motor skills.
A more physical role-play scenario seems to have a good effect on the development of the frontal lobe, the part of our brain that regulates our behaviour. By playing games that involve a bit of tumbling, as long as they are well supervised and don’t overdo it, it will help children learn how to control themselves and determine what kind of behaviour is appropriate or not.
First of all, role-playing games are a lot of fun! So if you’re looking for toys that are safe and fun to use, Foxyni has a great collection of toys that will encourage role play!