Jump on board at the Imagination Station!

Jump on board at the Imagination Station!
Reprinted from: Studio3Music's Notes.

Young children do not learn as grownups do. In order to comprehend they must pretend. Ever wonder why your child re-enacts recent events when they come home? It is their way of building their memories of what they have experienced. Benefits of pretend play include:

■Vocabulary development
■Social skill development (sharing, turn taking, and conversing)
■Differentiation between reality and fantasy
■Emotional support (by re-enacting episodes that involve disappointment, fear, anger or jealousy, children come to manage and understand those feelings)
■Creativity
■Resiliency (pretend play can offer a release of stress for a child)

Here are some fun ways to foster that pretend play in and out of your home.

■If your child is playing the role of a character, then play along without instructing, questioning or intruding. Let them be the leader and you can have fun on the ride!

■Blanket forts can be an easy way to transform an ordinary kitchen table or a couple of chairs into a castle or pirate ship. Don’t be in a rush to take it down; those can be great learning/teaching moments.

■Friends that are about the same age are a great way to encourage interactive pretend play.

■If your child needs to stay in character, don’t be in a rush to change clothes for the store. My son went to the store often in his Buzz Lightyear costume and people would just smile and nod.

■Imaginary friends are great way for a child to express themselves when they might not be able to do it otherwise. Of course if this gets a bit out of hand, you can always redirect and remind your child that “the friend” is pretend and your child needs to take responsibilities for their own actions.

To help support and encourage their creativity all you need is a few household items. It is easy to supply them with props! For example: save cereal boxes, bags, and cleaned out juice cartons for a “trip” to the grocery store. Use ace bandages, band aids and tongue depressors for Doctor’s office. Paper, crayons, a calculator and some envelopes are all you need to make a home office or school…..add some stuffed animals or dolls to these activities for even more fun! Don’t forget boxes of all sizes, empty paper towel rolls, and blankets can transform a room into a jungle, castle or whatever your child can come up with!

So climb on and enjoy the ride!