Dear Tracy,
As you know, pretend play is so important to early child development.
(Here’s an article from Psychology Today if you’d like to learn the science behind it.)
As Mister Rogers always told us:
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning, but for children, play is serious learning.”
But, I’m going to be honest: Some days Imaginary Play is not my strong suit.
I can’t be the only mom who feels this way, so I put together a list of some easy to play ideas and some of my favorite props to help foster imagination in our home.
A Cardboard Box
- Grab a paddle, make an oar, and you have a raft to sail away from the islands to return the heart of the sea to its rightful place
- Race Car Rally (Drive-In Movie Nights! Just add popcorn!)
- Life size jack in the box
- Add some markers and color a gingerbread house or a castle
Dinosaurs
- I think you mean…GODZILLA!!!
- No seriously, build a city out of blocks, and oh no!
- We’re under attack!
- Help us, Velociraptor! The mighty Stegosaurus is upon us!
Puppets
- Reenact an old episode of Mister Rogers from your childhood
- Use a monkey puppet to search for bugs in your kid’s hair
- Lion puppet and go around singing “I AM KING OF THE FORRRRESSSTTT!”
- Tiger’s go hunting…right?
Toy Food
- Grocery Shopping (but you have to pretend to scan it and then ask for paper coupons)
- Cooking banana, mushroom, lettuce pancakes. (I made a pack away kitchen!)
- Iron Chef: Preschool Edition
- Fruit salad for a picnic lunch and then lay a blanket on the living room floor to eat
- Tea cakes and tea parties
Horses
- It’s Derby time and you’ve got a 1:10 bet on the brown mare Applesauce Sprinkle Cuddles
- Toothbrushes and soapy water for horse baths
- Pretend to take picture of wild horses
- Build corrals for them out of Legos and blocks
Hot Wheels Cars
- Small box as a garage for cars to come in and out of for repairs
- Make believe gas station
- It’s race day, yo, and them there Nascar hot wheels have the inside track
- Run them through brown paint for a monster truck rally (and then wash them with soap and water!)
- Police chase because Cops and Robbers is a timeless game
Kinetic Sand
- Grab a metal cupcake tin and “bake”
- Throw in a construction truck or two and excavate a new road
- Do you wanna built a snowman?
Hopefully, on a day when you’re feeling burnt out or done with the day, you can look back at this list and find something to inspire you to play.
Love,
Jess
I'm a mom of one very sweet and active little boy who keeps me busy with everyday adventures chasing down space bandits, digging for buried treasure in the sandbox, or sailing the seven seas in a cardboard box.
To keep a balance in life, I stress bake, pretend to knit, and oh yeah...I'm writing a book of fiction.
These are such great ideas for pretend play. My son does a lot of pretend cooking and serving up food. He loves dinosaurs and construction vehicles. I’d have to try a few on the list. Mahalo.
I love this! Pretend play is my favourite type of play to watch my daughter engage in. It happens less and less now that she is older, but I miss it so much! A cardboard box is still one of her most favourite things to play with!
We don’t have any children but I remember being pretty creative as a kid with games. Most of the time it involved dolls of some sort. I love turning boxes into anything a kid can imagine. Our friends had gotten new chairs and they came in big boxes. Their kids loved the boxes so we had them get in and act like it was a rocket ship!