I Need A Pretend Play Day
One of my favorite childhood pastimes is pretend play. We didn’t have nearly as many lifelike commercial options as kids have today, but we sure did get creative: Barbie houses made out of plastic storage bins, doll beds carefully constructed out of old shoe boxes lined with wrapping or contact paper and topped with a scrap piece of felt for a blanket . . . the list goes on. I laugh out loud to myself, remembering our wild imaginations and the shenanigans that resulted because of them. Those really were the days.
Pretend play is absolutely essential to childhood. We know that children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched a child pick up a rock and pretend it is a speeding car, or unfold a napkin to use as a blanket for their favorite sleeping stuffy? That’s their way of using an object to represent something completely unrelated while giving it action and motion. The process of pretending builds skills in essential developmental areas including: Language, Social & Emotional, and Critical Thinking. Heck, I know plenty of adults that could use a refresher course in each of these areas!
My daughter has become a MASTER of pretend play and it is one of my favorite ways of connecting with her. We recently enjoyed an impromptu Mommy and Me tea party, complete with a charcuterie board of kid-friendly snacks. I pulled a couple of oversized sun hats and a string of pink pearls out of my closet and we sat at her toddler table enjoying “tea” (water) from her little tin tea set. She insisted that we speak in “granny” voices and refer to each other as “old lady.”
That tea party cost nothing to pull together. Yet, it was worth EVERYTHING. For at least 3 days afterwards I was “super cool” in her almost-four-years-old book. Her general attitude was better and so was mine. We giggled about having been “grannies” for at least a week. I felt rejuvenated from having bonded with my often saucy preschooler. We spend a lot of time together in general, but living in that fantasy world of hers for an hour or so was exactly what I needed. Clearly, so did she.
I need another pretend play day.