Dramatic Play At Our Child Care Center
If we think back to be being a child there is a large part of us that remembers playing pretend. We were princesses trapped in a castle by the evil monster, a world renowned chef showcasing our number one dish, or we were taking care of our little babies and being a great mommy, and going to McDonalds® for a treat.
Whatever toy you were playing with, wasn’t a toy. This was who you felt you were in the moment. At Foundations For Learning, we know that playing pretend creates huge milestones in childhood development. We have toy kitchens, and dramatic play time designed for our children. This teaches them essential skills that you can use outside of our child care center in Southington.
Learning What Children Like And Don’t Like
Dramatic play will be a stepping stone in helping your child figure out what they like and don’t like to do.. It will also help develop what they are interested in, and help them coordinate different abilities they were unaware of. When we watch children play in the toy kitchen, or with their favorite doll, this is a way that they have chosen to communicate and is a way for them to express their feelings and ideas.
Children Work Out Problems
Children are much more intelligent at a young age than we think. They also use pretend play to help cope with certain situations that may be scary to them. An example would be playing doctor. Some kids like to be the leader and become the doctor, others are the patient, or are usually getting a “shot.” The child getting the shot is most likely afraid of the real deal, so playing pretend can help them cope with those feelings. Other times, dramatic play is so essential for your child’s development when a huge life event happens, like a sickness in the family, a death, or destruction of the home.
Children Learn To Be SocialPlaying pretend helps children learn how to interact in a social setting. In our child care center in Southington, we make sure all the children are sharing and communicating with one another. They learn how to feed off of each other by watching their social cues, or waiting for their verbal communication. They are implementing a lot of skills in this simple act of dramatic play
- Negotiate
- View other perspectives
- Shift knowledge
- Balance
- Develop a plan
- Take on roles/give out roles
Children Will Learn To Keep Emotions In Check
Interacting with others is so vital in the early stages of childhood. This will teach kids how to be more comfortable with others, and possibly create an outgoing persona. Reading emotional cues is essential too because this will make your children good at understanding what other kids might be going through. They will be able to regulate their emotions, and communicate more clearly how they feel, even if just within the dramatic play.
Foundations For Learning in Southington and surrounding areas believes this type of dramatic play is extremely beneficial for your young children. It teaches them communication skills, emotional balance, how to get along with others, and much more.