Imagine That! Why Pretend Play Is More Powerful Than You Think
Imaginative play and fantasy aren’t red flags anymore. Today, cultures worldwide celebrate pretend play as a key part of healthy child development. Fantasy play is embraced, not frowned upon (Children’s Imagination and Fantasy ).
Kids learn from their surroundings — but they also create beyond them. Whether in cities or rural areas, children pick up local “scripts” from everyday life (Gosso Morais & Otta). Yet, they also invent entirely new worlds and characters. As Dorothy Singer notes this imaginative leap one of the most powerful parts of being human.
How imagination grows from direct imitation to more exploratory fantasy-Piaget’s stages simplified:
Object Permanence (5–12 months): Babies learn that things exist even when they can’t see them. This helps them form mental images—key to imagining anything.
Symbolic Play (2–5 years): Kids use objects to stand for something else, like blocks as cars or scarves as capes. This stage boosts language, emotional control, and empathy.
From infancy, kids start to understand others’ thoughts and feelings. This early “theory of mind” helps them build richer inner worlds and higher-level thinking (The Spoke).
Imagination isn’t just for kids—it shapes how we handle life as adults. Paul Harris’s research shows kids use imagination to explore “what could be”—trying out future roles and solving problems creatively. This ability stays with us well beyond childhood.
So how do we cultivate imagination and pretend play in our kids? Try out some of these ideas:
1. Foster Symbolic Play (Ages 2–7+): Symbolic play—like using a banana as a phone or a blanket as a cape—helps build abstract thinking, executive function, and emotional regulation.
Provide open-ended toys like blocks, scarves, animal figures, or cardboard boxes.
Let them lead play scenarios—no script, no correction.
Encourage role-play ("What if you were the chef and I was your customer?").
2. Tell and Act Out Stories: Stories develop mental representation, language skills, and theory of mind (understanding others’ perspectives).
Make up bedtime stories together, alternating who tells each part.
Use puppets or stuffed animals to act out emotions, conflicts, or silly situations.
After reading a book, ask, “What do you think happens next?”
3. Encourage Dress-Up and Role Play: Dress-up supports social scripts, helps kids explore identity, and enhances cognitive flexibility.
Keep a dress-up box of random clothes, hats, and props.
Create a “character of the day” challenge (e.g., “Today you’re a pirate chef!”).
Join in and let them direct the scene.
4. Introduce “What If?” and Problem-Solving Games: These spark counterfactual thinking and train kids to imagine multiple possibilities—important for reasoning and innovation.
“What if animals could talk—what would they say?”
“If our couch turned into a rocket ship, where would we go?”
Create dilemmas like “What would you pack to live on a volcano?”
5. Provide Open-Ended Creative Time Art, building, and music activate imagination while building fine motor skills, self-expression, and emotional resilience.
Offer materials like clay, paint, watercolors, or recycled items.
Avoid “crafts with instructions”—just ask, “What do you want to make?”
Build imaginary worlds with LEGO or cardboard.
6. Practice Perspective-Taking Through Play: Imaginative play that includes different characters and viewpoints nurtures empathy and social understanding—core to theory of mind.
During pretend play, ask “How do you think your dragon feels right now?”
Play games where they switch roles: “You be the parent today, and I’ll be the kid!”
Bonus Tip: Limit Passive Screen Time: The Canadian Paediatric Society reports that excessive screen time reduces opportunities for imaginative thought and symbolic play—impacting attention, language, and emotional skills.
Swap out 30 minutes of video time for an “imagination hour.”
Co-watch and then turn it into pretend play (e.g., “Let’s make our own adventure like Bluey!”).