Your child expresses his fears and anxieties in the form of imaginary games. Pay attention to the child’s behavior while play. Don’t forget the role of imaginary games in your child’s health
– “For example, I will become Mrs. Mary, the wife of Mr. Kevin, and Yvan, the master, will become a shopkeeper.” Then I will come to you to buy chocolate. Yes?”
– “Yes.”
This dialogue, which is part of a fantasy game, may be familiar to many of us. As a kid, we all played aunty game, mommy game and similar games with our friends. These types of activities are called pretend or pretend games. But do you know how much these simple games play in a child’s life?
Fantasy games by entering the world of children
Sarah is four years old. He is afraid of getting shots and starts crying whenever it is his turn to get his vaccine. Once he is playing, he brought his toy first aid kit and wants his mom’s syringe. His mother also welcomes his work. When injecting, he says to his mother: “Look, sometimes you have to inject. The ampoule is good for you. This time, he doesn’t cry like before and lets them inject him more calmly. Even when the nurse is finished, she turns to her mother and says, “She wasn’t afraid at all.”
The above story is a real experience. Children’s world is full of imagination. Everything in their world is alive. A child loves to play, and as a result, the best way to communicate with him is through the use of toys. If in the above story, instead of Sarah practicing injections in the form of a game, her mother had sat next to her and made a very formal and dry argument and reasoning that injections were good for her, perhaps injections would not have had a very favorable outcome.
Children show their worries and problems in their fantasies, so this method should not be neglected. The imaginative play is not age restricted and continues up to the age of 11.
Scientific benefits of imaginative play for children
Children experience the real world through pretend play. They put themselves in situations similar to the real one, making the child learn as much as possible. This method has many benefits like:
It encourages the child’s imagination and creativity.
Sepideh, who plays a rich woman, wears her mother’s ten-centimeter high heels and rides her brother Suhail’s car as a driver. Sohail put a big hat on his head and drew a line across his lips using his mother Sybil’s make-up pencil. Sepideh gives their home address to Sohail, and he also brings the rich woman to her house.
The child creates a whole story. A beautiful story that ignites his mind at this moment. From the names of the characters in the story to the clothes they wear and even the dialogues. Everything was created by his creative mind. All these circumstances make the child’s brain always more creative by making up different stories and acting them out. On the other hand, this strange game can help children better understand their surroundings. The world of children is very limited and they have little experience. Experiencing different roles like driver, police, firefighter, etc. makes his world bigger.
Strengthen the child’s emotional and social skills.
When a child plays a role, he experiences different feelings. The child puts himself in the shoes of different people, so he must manage his emotions according to his role and even express certain feelings. Apart from this issue, these toys allow him to express emotions, fear, and anxiety. The child hides in his toys and careful observation of his play can provide us with very good information. On the other hand, knowing these roles improves the child’s social skills.
Improve the child’s problem-solving skills.
Each story comes from the heart of an incident and a problem. A problem to be solved. At the same time, this sweet challenge forces the child to think and come up with a solution. The child immersed in the game makes suggestions to solve the problem and tries to implement them. This process improves his problem-solving performance.
Imaginative play strengthens a child’s physical skills.
The child has to solve the challenges during the pretend play. Suppose he has the role of a car repairman. Then he has to use a wrench and repair his toy car. Or when she becomes a make-up artist and wants to put lipstick on her doll, then she has to be careful and delicate, and this strengthens her motor skills.
Read about: The importance of imaginative play for children and tips for its implementation
Through role-playing, the child’s verbal skills increase.
When the child tries to play different roles, he has to use different and new words because of the different nature of each role. For example, a child in the role of a doctor must be able to use new words that are similar to his role. These efforts help a lot in strengthening the vocabulary of the child.
Perhaps here this concern is forming in your mind, now that this method is useful, how can we practice it with our child. But good news! This method is from the nature of the child and every child experiences it in his normal life, so there is no need to do anything special.
Three practical ways to encourage children to play pretend
1- Start early.
Children can fantasize from a young age. You can try this method from about a year and a half. For this, give the child a limited number of toys. Try to use toys that can stimulate the child’s imagination and allow him to fantasize. All you have to do is set aside 15 to 20 minutes for your child to play with the toys.
First of all, you can devote a shorter time to the game and increase it over time. But what will surprise you is the power of a child’s imagination. It can be said that even very young children can dream well and plunge into their own world.
2- Make time to play.
Many parents try to fill their children’s time with various programs during the day. A child is not supposed to fill his day with various tasks like a regular and meticulous employee. This will cause him to lose enough time to play freely.
Have you ever noticed that children are playing in the garden? At first, he was running aimlessly. But after a while you will see that a simple run turns into an exciting chase. The child should be given the opportunity to compose his imaginary story in his mind and implement it.
Well, you see, you shouldn’t be in a hurry. For example, if your child is watching TV right now, expecting him to immediately start pretending is very strange and usually the child does not show a positive reaction. Start the game when the child is no longer tired and can concentrate enough on the game.
Six-year-old Mohammed usually sits quietly for a while when he wakes up, being alone with himself and not talking much. This is the time when he loses his thoughts and prepares his mind to create an imaginary game.
3- Let their imaginations ignite.
One way to develop a child’s imagination is to use simple games that don’t have many features. For example, a robotic machine that does all its work by itself and is called a robot is not very suitable for developing a child’s creativity. More simple games can stimulate a child’s imagination because they don’t have a lot of possibilities and he has to imagine them himself.
Conclusion
In games, the child learns many things and acquires new skills. Pretend play is a very good exercise to prepare a child to accept adult roles and improve their physical and mental skills, and even these types of games can help parents understand their children’s interests and passions. If your child is less interested in these types of games, using appropriate toys such as home toys, work tools, cars, and dolls can be a good way to encourage him to play these games.
