A box is a rocket ship. A swing set is a castle. Most children take to imaginative play quickly and easily. You may think that they’re just playing games, and your child may think so too, but did you know that there are several benefits of make-believe play for children? The list is almost too big to measure, but we’ve listed our top four favorites below.
When it comes to the benefits of make-believe, imagination is a benefit all on its own. As a matter of fact, your child’s imagination can help them become a thriving adult. Think about all of the things that require imagination, not just during childhood but in adolescence and adulthood as well.
For adults to enjoy art and creativity in general, they’ll need a healthy imagination, and that imagination starts in childhood. Using the imagination is a great way to release stress in creative ways.
What about reading? A healthy imagination is an essential pre-literacy skill. When you lose yourself in a good novel, it’s because your imagination lets you picture characters and settings. Just like your child’s mind turns a dog into a dragon, your mind turns ink on a page into rich images. Through the benefits of make-believe, your child can strengthen their imagination, and when they strengthen their imagination, they gain the skills they’ll need to enjoy reading and all of its benefits.
The benefits of make-believe include strengthening your child’s social skills, too. Imaginative play is often how young children interact with one another. By creating an imaginative escape together, children bond with each other, develop their social skills, and create early friendships.
Here’s a simple but powerful benefit of make-believe: When your child spends time in imaginative play, they spend time away from the screen. A little bit of screen time is okay for children, but you should avoid letting your child spend too much time in front of a screen.
When your child sits in front of a television or tablet, the screen does all of the imaginative work for them. They don’t have to conjure any mental images because the images are already right there. By emphasizing make-believe play, you can direct your child away from the screen and help them strengthen those important imaginative skills.
Empathy is an essential skill, and it’s one of the biggest benefits of make-believe for children. Showing empathy, after all, means putting yourself in another person’s shoes and asking yourself how that person feels. This skill can be difficult for children to grasp, but imaginative play can help. When your child pretends to be a queen or a lizard, they’re putting themselves in someone else’s shoes – or scales. This skill can help them to do the same for friends, family members, or even people with whom they don’t get along.
Do you want to help your child engage in more make-believe play? Legacy Academy has plenty of opportunities this summer. Here at Legacy Academy in Berkeley Lake, we want to help your child experience all of the benefits of make-believe.
However, we also want to provide a safe and healthy environment for your child as they learn and play. That’s why we’ve crafted our activities with post-COVID safety and hygiene standards in mind.
Have questions? Want to enroll your child? Then contact us today. We’d love to answer your questions and address any concerns you may have.
Notetaking provides several benefits beyond that record of what was presented in a lecture or class activity. Effective notetaking:
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