Is Pretend Play Good for Kids?

Kids prefer learning through interactive techniques which enable them to fantasize and help them in the development of their brains. Parents often enroll their children at day care or kindergarten so that they can learn while playing and interacting after using their imagination. They are not given any homework there, which is a relief to the parents and the main reason the kids get to enjoy the process of learning. However, many parents are hesitant since they are of the opinion that their kids may lose sight of the distinction between reality and fantasy if they take learning as fun, and they normally pay for homework paper service. But apart from all the baseless fears, pretend play is a healthy activity in essence which helps the children to develop their emotional, social and rational faculties and hence, is nothing to be afraid of.

The two main kinds of make believe are sociodramatic and fantasy play. Fantasy play starts from the age of 2 and continues till the age of preschool where children start interacting with others of their own age group and get supplied with other resources and toys. 10 to 17% of the preschoolers can be categorized under this division. In this state, children usually verbalize their actions and explain what they are planning to do or trying to act like. As for the sociodramatic pretend play, it is observed that as soon as the story’s guidelines are conveyed, they stay immersed in the character and do not come out of it to explain that they are only pretending the whole act. Usually children get obsessed with the character of Sleeping Beauty or Superman, to whichever they are more exposed.

Hence, pretend play is beneficial and helps in nurturing the social skills since it gives the child an opportunity to participate in shared activities and also helps in developing an appreciation of other relations as well. Therefore, a child develops the habit of considering the roles of others in the story he/she created. 

It also enables the kids to start socially interacting by being friends with other children as they become friends when they think of initiating an activity of roleplaying. They also learn about their surroundings and understand the emotions of other people as they take on different characters. 

All these role playing activities also make them express their emotions as well as develop the various feelings while monitoring those. Children get to learn leadership skills when they are asked to head a particular group and their activities. It is the most convenient and effective way of learning a multitude of relationships, information about the world and how to tackle different situations.