Fictional playmates go hand in hand with a preschooler’s growing imagination and budding social skills. If your child’s favorite guest at tea parties is an invisible one, relax. “Questions help strengthen your child’s language development and ability to think in more elaborate, creative ways,” says Dr. If his Lego Minifigures surround the block castle, ask what they’re planning to do next. Woolley, Ph.D., a psychology professor and head of the Imagination and Cognition Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.įor instance, when your son serves you “spaghetti,” you can make a face and say, “Oh my gosh, this tastes like pumpkin!” With that, you’ve shifted the scene, which helps him deal with a reaction he wasn’t expecting, Dr. If you’re offered an invitation to join the fun, accept! “When children pretend with their parents, their games become more advanced, because adults can boost a child’s imagination to another level,” says Jacqueline D. (While dress-up games peak during preschool, grade-schoolers shrink the stage, using dolls and action figures to act out similar scenarios.) Role-playing gives kids a chance to try on different identities and feel powerful - even if the rocket ship they’re flying is a cardboard box - and with every new character, your child learns empathy. Some kids - ahem, mine - are so into pretend games that they play them almost nonstop. The Milestone: Pretending He’s Someone Else We turned to the experts to find out what’s going on as children develop their powers of imagination, so you can make the most of your child’s magical make-believe milestones. And thanks to their savvy use of words and narrative, students who are great pretenders also get along better with their classmates.Īs it turns out, there’s a lot you can do to help your child reap the benefits of a rich fantasy life. Researchers in Australia found that the more elaborate a 5- to 7-year-old’s pretend games are, the more engaged the child is in the classroom. The advantages also extend to school success. It also adds significantly to a kid’s overall development, building language skills and storytelling chops and strengthening the ability to solve problems more creatively. “Fantasy play is a critical skill builder: It helps children better understand the world around them,” says Laura Rubin, Ph.D., a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Portsmouth Neuropsychology Center in New Hampshire. Whether he’s hurdling over molten lava, battling a bad guy, or saving a baby, watching him spin his scenarios always gives me the warm fuzzies.įor all the enjoyment I get from his costume changes, however, the perks for my little guy are even greater. Last week he was a chef, a firefighter, and a train conductor.
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