Fall has arrived which means the Halloween season is just around the corner! October is often a time where kids are able to express their creativity through costumes and pretend play. Outside of the festivities and trick-or-treating, imaginative play is a great way for children to lean into their interests and passions!
Promoting Imagination: Imaginative play allows children to see themselves in a wide array of situations, stories, and careers with no limits and encourages them to expand their passions. Imagination is an important quality to nurture in childhood as it can help lead to out-of-the-box thinking in adulthood.
Learning Through Role Playing: One of the main motivators of imaginative play comes from characters! Children often “attach” themselves to their favorite characters out of admiration and respect. Through movies and shows, they are able to visually conceptualize right from wrong and good from bad. When a child dresses up as or “becomes” a character, they are often seeing themselves in adventurous or empowering roles!
Exploring Interests in Jobs & Careers: From tea parties to doctor’s visits, children love to play pretend! During a child’s developmental years, children learn the ability to make connections and emulate what they see in day to day life. This is usually the primary factor in a child’s desire to create imaginative circumstances and “mimic” various careers!
Building Child Development Skills: Imaginary play is a great way for children to not only create situations, but solve them. Scenarios such as “doctor” and “restaurant” allow for decisions such as why a patient might be hurt or what should be on the menu. Imitating characters and playing “dress up” can improve the overall social, emotional, and language skills. Through imagination and play, children are able to explore the abilities of their cognitive development!
Looking for a great place to start? Throughout the month of October, Skidaddles will be hosting “Costume Wednesdays”! We encourage your busy bees to show up in their favorite costumes to not only celebrate the Halloween spirit, but to embrace the importance of imagination. Let the magic begin!
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