20 Fun Ways to Encourage Pretend Play
Pretend play is very important and I wanted to share some fun ways for you to get your child interested in pretend or free play.
- Build a Fort in the Living Room
- Give Them an Old Cell Phone/Cordless Phone
- Allow Them to Play with Your Shoes or Old Clothing (Dress Up)
- Host a Puppet Show
- Have Them Create Music Using Your Pots/Pans and Utensils
- Use Several Different Stuffed Animals and Imitate Each One Using a Different Voice
- Make Cookies and Other Goodies using Play Dough
- Sing Your Favorite Songs Like On American Idol or The Voice – Give Them Something They Can Use as a Microphone
- Allow Them to Pretend That a Cardboard Box is a Car
- Have Them Build a Tower Using Blocks or Legos
- Allow them to Explore Different Art Materials like Paint, Chalk, Markers, Crayons
- Let Them Pretend to Clean Up the House
- Play House
- Host a Tea Party and Invite Your Child’s Friends
- Have Your Child Pretend They Are a Doctor or Nurse – Let Them Treat Baby Dolls or Stuffed Animals
- Grab a Toy Cash Register and Some Items for Sale – Let Your Child Ring Up Items, Learn How to Take Money, ect
- Buy a Toy Kitchen or Fake Food
- Have Your Child Pretend They Are a Teacher
- Allow Your Child to Play with an Old Laptop or Keyboard
- Have Your Child Pretend That They Are a Veterinarian – They Can Treat Their Stuffed Animals
- Play with Felt Kits
- Let Your Imagination Run Wild
As I was writing this post, I was thinking back to some of my favorite memories that I have as a child. The things that stick out the most to me where the times when I used pretend play.
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What was your favorite pretend play activity when you were growing up?
