What is imaginative play?
Imaginative play is when children use their imaginations to create roles and characters and act them out by themselves or with their friends. You may have noticed that from around 18 months old, children will actively engage in pretend play, pretending to use the phone or your keys, imitating what they have seen and learnt at home.
At the ages of around 3 to 4, children engage with familiar role play such as creating afternoon tea parties or taking on the roles of doctors and nurses.
Imaginative play is especially important for Early Years children, including toddlers and pre-schoolers, as well as those in their first years of primary education, to take part in as it can help them to develop a range of vital skills that will support their growth and development. As your little one grows, imaginative play can become more complex and elaborate such as becoming superheroes or acting out their favourite books or film scenes.
Benefits of imaginative play?
As children act out their imaginative and creative stories they make sense of the experiences they have been exposed to, practising decision-making and collaborating with their peers.
This activity can help with their learning by developing key skills across a range of areas, as well as improving their confidence, independence and communication skills Making up and acting out stories with nursery and school friends can also help them to forge stronger friendships, whilst having a lot of fun!
Language
By acting out a scene or telling their peers what role to play, children are able to confidently use their speech and language skills without the worry of getting it wrong. As they continue to develop they can also pick up on other children’s language and vocabulary and learn from those around them.
Outdoor imaginative play can be an even better way for your child to develop their speech and language skills as the experience offers more opportunities to ask questions and learn new things.
Developing emotions through play
While children act out their imaginations they’re able to attach emotions to specific tasks and share these with teachers and friends. By expressing their feelings in a safe and familiar environment they learn that it’s a positive experience which they can replicate in school and at home and as they grow.
Developing strong emotional intelligence at a young age is key in adulthood as it enables us to understand those around us, build robust relationships, defuse conflict and reduce stress, many of which are necessary skills in day to day life.
Confidence
Children can become anyone they want during their creative and imaginative play time, which brings with it a liberating self confidence that they may not feel in a classroom setting. Each scenario they create and conquer together will help to build their self-esteem as they successfully use their problem solving skills.
Friendships
Play is a great way for your little one to form lasting friendships. As the new and different scenarios play out it helps your child to understand relationships and provides great opportunities for them to test social boundaries, understanding social norms. The more often children are engaged in imaginative play the more confident and connected they become to their peers and develop strong social skills to help them continue to develop relationships in later life.
Creativity
Play and creativity go hand in hand. As children experiment with stories and new ways of doing things it fosters cognitive and social development, helping them to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Once children have developed these skills they can look at situations in a more creative way, developing unique views and solutions. This is an especially important skill when it comes to STEM learning.
At Westbourne Nursery we encourage our Early Years children to take part in imaginative play regularly, and to make full use of the toys, books and creative play resources around them. Engaging in this activity from such an early age lays the foundation for future learning and development, ensuring our children have the vital skills in place to thrive as they transition to Prep School.
Find out more about how Westbourne Nursery and Prep School can support your child’s Early Years development. www.westbourneschool.com/apply