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Much of the recent literature on human cognitive development portrays children as young scientists, constructing systematic and coherent, if naive, theories about the world. One of the many ways by which children learn is through pretend play. ... Play: an activity done for amusement and pleasure, especially by children. ... As children develop the ability to represent experience symbolically, pretend play becomes a prominent activity. In this complex type of play, children carry out action plans, take on roles, and transform objects as they express their ideas and feelings about the social world (Garvey, 1977).
The main reason children engage in pretend play simply seems to be because it is fun. ... Children use imaginary play to actively explore their world. ... Although the capacity and inclination to pretend seem to appear spontaneously in all normally developing children as they acquire the ability to use symbols and engage in representational thought (Piaget, 1962).
There are different theories of children’s pretend play put forward by several psychologists. ... He considered play to be devoid of organised structure, and believed that play allows freedom from conflict and viewed childrens fantasy play as egotistical; meaning that the children discover the boundaries and limits of their ego. ...
Vygotsky (1978) conceived play as serving both the child’s emotional and cognitive development. Vygotsky agreed with Freud believing that play is driven by affective desires, but unlike Piaget he believed children extend their ideas in play by cresting less obvious symbolic links between objects and what they are meant to represent (Cohen, 1993). ... There are however key features in children’s early pretence. ... Roles are identities children assume in play. ... This shows that even small children are aware of the norm from an early age. ... These kind of roles might reflect the child’s wish for the way they would like their family to be in real life, and in portraying these characters lets the child express themselves. ...
Children also assume stereotyped character roles drawn from the larger culture, such as nurse, and the theme of treating and healing is popular. This could be more played out by children who come from affectionate families as an imitation of being loved. However it could also be a way for neglected children to show their abuse i. ... A lot of younger children perhaps might pretend to be a teacher, because their teacher in school is someone whom they admire and want to be like.
As sociodramatic play emerges, objects begin to influence the roles children assume. ... When children engage in pretend play they are constantly developing five developmental domains, fine and gross motor skills, social/emotional skills, language development, and cognitive development (Piaget, 1962).
Approximate Word count = 2200
Approximate Pages = 8.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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