A child’s mind is a very colorful place, buzzing with ideas, limitless in its possibilities of being, thriving on imagination. He’s a pirate on a treasure hunt in the morning, sailing across the seven seas, fighting anyone who gets in his way. A cafe owner in the evening, preparing culinary marvels from all over the world for their momma with clay. A parent at night putting all his toys to sleep with a story and a kiss.
Children love playing roles. It’s their way of understanding the world and also their way of facing it. Children using their imagination to act out common scenarios that they see around them is called pretend play. So when your child is pretending to be on the phone and having a conversation with mumma while she’s at work, they are pretend playing. When they hand you a cup full of water and tell you to drink up the tea they made for you, that’s pretend play too. Pretend play or dramatic play is a staple in a child’s life and an essential part of their development.
Here are some benefits of encouraging and even participating in your child’s imaginative parties:
Observation skills:
Pretend play is a great reflection of your child’s observation skills, they are also a great way to learn life, prepare for its many roles.
Memory and thinking skills:
While acting out different situations, your child uses memory and thinking skills to solve problems.
Social skills:
While pretending to be someone else your child is learning new words, they are also learning to communicate, express themselves and their understanding of relationships grows too.
Managing emotions:
Playing any game involves emotional management and fostering copying skills. This stands true for pretend play too.
A pretend game that I myself played as a young girl and played right into my teens was dolls. I’ve always been a story weaver, my mind always abuzz with tales and my dolls were my main characters, everything I wanted to be as a grown up. So I can safely and certainly say playing with dolls and dollhouses is a sure way of raising little story weavers. Dollhouse and dolls allow children to spin their own daily adventures, rehearse life without having to face the consequences and most importantly, pretend to be a grown up! They also become a safe space for children to interpret life events, process them, maybe even let go of them once they’ve acted it out with their trusted toys.
Another key benefit of playing with dolls is that they foster empathy, as well as coping skills. As they play with these characters, they subconsciously learn to put themselves into their shoes and gather the emotional skills to handle situations. For example, while playing, when a girl scolds her dolls, she acknowledges and accepts that that’s a role that parents sometimes have to take on. This helps her not only understand her parent but also helps her interpret her own response to the scolding that she may have been at the end of. She may not be aware of these connections that her brain makes during an innocent game, but they are there.
A child acting out everyday situations in her dollhouse is not only learning organizational skills like planning her doll’s day, planning the furniture setting in the house, but also classification skills like what goes where, what kind of outfit to where to which place etc. There’s a lot of life learning in these little decisions. Another important skill that comes into play during these dramatic games is problem solving. Like any game, children are likely to meet obstacles and daily challenges while playing and they develop critical and creative thinking along the way.
Setting up the dollhouse, placing little pieces of furniture in their place, decorating it with tiny accessories and organizing each room develops their fine motor skills. And Dollhouses are also the perfect toy for encouraging independent play time. You’ll find your child engaging with it for hours on end. Another advantage for children who play with dolls is that they tend to be more accepting of responsibility and leadership roles.
As an open-ended toy that has the ability to spark countless stories and hence countless scenarios and games, it’s a toy that your child will enjoy for years, and in a different way in every phase. You’ll also find it making your child more capable, both emotionally and socially. So, all in all, Dollhouses make for a great investment, that’ll not only entertain your child for years but also help build their character in the long run.
If you’re looking for the perfect wooden dollhouse for your little one?Look no further.
House of Zizi’s Wooden Dollhouse come in two sizes:
2 storey & 3 storey – both the models have a movable lift. These charming yet well-planned dollhouses will make the perfect, cozy nook in your child’s room. Handcrafted with processed wood with an enchanting design, our wooden dollhouses are sturdy, long-lasting and ecofriendly. The spacious and colorful design make them perfect for little hands to navigate through.
So give your child their own little world to grow big in with House of Zizi!