My little one loves to play "pretend games" the most, and sometimes he'll let me play as an evil dinosaur, and he's a dinosaur with super powers. Either he'll let me play the monster and he'll be Ultraman and he's going to duel me.
These childish-looking "pretend games" are something that every child does, even when we were young. When a child starts playing "pretend games," it means that the child has a new development in terms of cognitive and social skills.
Why children love to play "pretend games"
Psychologist Piaget pointed out that "pretend games" are a kind of psychological activity of children, and if children want to play "pretend games", they must know that "pretend games" can replace "daily life" and "happening".
The three stages of the "pretend game":
Stage 1: Detached from real life.
A one-and-a-half-year-old baby, holding a toy phone, pretending to call Dad: "Daddy, what are you doing?" He took out a newspaper and pretended to be reading it, and for a while the children's disguises were mostly imitating adults, and the tools used were real.
At about two years old, they were able to use less realistic objects, such as using square bricks as mobile phones. Gradually, they were able to develop flexible imagination without the help of real objects.
The second stage: weakening self-centeredness.
In the beginning, the protagonist of this pretend game is himself, such as pretending to feed himself, and gradually he will turn his attention to other things, such as feeding his toy dinosaurs. After the age of two, they can break away from the game and use other tools, such as having the toy dinosaur press the button to save the train. When the child understands that the initiator and receiver of the "pretend play" behavior can not be himself, his self-centeredness is gradually weakening.
Step 3: Include more complex combinatorial patterns.
A one-and-a-half-year-old will pretend to drink water, but he will not use the action of pouring water and drinking water at the same time. Several three- and four-year-old children take care of the rag dolls together, some pretend to be doctors, some pretend to be mothers, some pretend to be drivers, and in their carefully planned plot, they have been able to shape multiple characters very well, and they know the plot very thoroughly.
What are the benefits of "pretend play" for kids?
Psychologists believe that "pretend play" is not just a symbolic game, it can also improve children's cognitive and social skills. Numerous studies have shown that "pretend games" can improve people's various thinking abilities, including memory, logical reasoning, self-thinking, and control over their own behavior.
1. Familiar with relevant regulations
When the child pretends to take care of the little doll to bathe and sleep, he is actually following the rules of work and rest. When a child treats himself as a mother and a doll as her child, he is following the parenting rules of his parents.
Because children play mostly adults, such as doctors, teachers, etc., they will be interested in these professions, will seriously study them, and then copy them into the game. Through playing, children gradually become accustomed to the rules of life and are better able to follow these rules.
2. Cultivation of social skills
Playing a social drama game, let the children create and coordinate on their own, and have enough communication and discussion, so that they can learn how to communicate with people, and then improve their social skills.
Children build friendships in social activities, while pretend play creates an important communicative environment for children. Early friendships can bring social support to children, and those who are willing to socialize are more likely to learn in kindergarten.
3. Better understand and predict the emotions of others
When they grow up, their understanding of emotions will be more precise and complex, and they can well identify the root of emotions, such as: brother is happy to defeat a dinosaur. It is also possible to predict how a companion will react after expressing a certain emotion, such as punching someone after getting angry. Children come to realize that thinking and emotion are interconnected.
As children's awareness of feelings deepens, they can express different emotions through playing games, which will also promote children's emotional understanding, especially when they play with their partners.