The Power of Dramatic Play

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Dramatic play is an important part of childhood that engages every part of a child's brain. Creativity, communication, and social skills are just some of the areas tapped into during dramatic play. For the onlooker, dramatic play truly taps into the wonder of childhood, where anything you want to be is possible through pretending and imagination. 

 Children naturally engage in dramatic play and enjoy creating stories and scenarios based on things they might have seen. Dramatic play also allows kids to experience things as yet unfamiliar to them, building new knowledge and vocabulary. 

 One summer my three children transformed my house into an elaborate mini golf course.  They twisted and taped together paper to make golf clubs, crumpled paper golf balls, and made a winding path of 18 holes up and down the hallway, into the bathrooms and bedrooms. They played with this for weeks on end and enjoyed it way more than the vast number of toys they had that came from the store. This worked because they created it and it was open-ended and engaged their imagination and creativity.

 Currently, our classroom has a flower shop that our students are enjoying very much. They are arranging flowers in vases and wrapping flowers up into bouquets. They are taking pretend orders over the phone and ringing up customers on a cash register. They are also making cards and gifting their classmates with bouquets. Some things overheard have been statements such as, "I can't seem to find your order," "what would you like," and "can I help you?"  Preschool gold!


 We’ve also recently added a Post Office. Children are enjoying making cards and sending and receiving mail from their classmates. It’s hard not to smile when they enter the classroom and I hear one of them say, “I need to check my mail.’

 Look for opportunities at home for dramatic play. Though it's hard to believe, the tasks we adults find mundane are often intriguing to young children. Anything you do in everyday life, from gardening to cleaning your house, is an opportunity for your child to pretend, learn, and grow. 

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

 Laundry: A box can become a washer for doll clothes, spare cloths, and towels you have around the house. I wish my older kids were as gung-ho about real laundry as they were about pretending to do it when they were small!

 Restaurant: A few take out menus, plastic dishes, and a notepad and paper for taking orders are all you need to make this happen.

 Birthday Party: Hit the dollar store for party hats and other props for a stuffed animal birthday celebration.

 Hair Salon:Hair accessories, brushes, combs, and dolls can create an at-home salon. Just be sure to skip the scissors though!

 

 

 

 

 



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