Nurture pretend play

I always find it amazing to watch young children play, particularly pretend play. It is fascinating to see a child develop an interest in one thing over another and to see their personality grow through play.  I prefer to keep children’s toys and games gender neutral and I bring this belief in to Writing for Tiny. Children should not be pigeon holed, particularly when it comes gender.  However, sometimes little girls and little boys will live up to stereotypes and so what? If a child wants to imitate their mummy or their daddy , then let it be. Allow them to express themselves, they are who they are.

I was a born mum, as you can see from the old family photo where I am tucking my teddies in. I loved to mind things. If it wasn’t my Baby Born doll it was a guinea pig or a Sylvanian family baby at the receiving end of my nurturing tendencies.This has shaped me as a nurse, a mother and the founder of a business centered around children. As a child I also had a number of ‘enterprises’. These included a baby sitting business, a colouring book business that my sister Clare and I started, and a trendy cafe in my mum’s garage that served the finest marshmallow kebabs.

There is no doubt that your childhood and how you play shapes who you are as an adult. I loved to nurture , to draw and to run a little business as a child, and it is exactly who I am today.

Children learn so much through pretend play. Pretending helps to  build skills in the essential child development areas such as social and emotional skills, speech and language skills, and cognitive skills.

            Nurture your Tiny one’s imagination:

• • Set up an area in your home in which a shop, a post office or hospital or even a car wash could be imagined up!
  • Cardboard boxes are always a good start.
  • Dust off those old clothes, shoes,bags, hats , ski boots…all welcome
  • Pots and pans, crockery, food containers can help any little chef create a culinary masterpiece
  • Teddies and dolls make excellent patients.
  • Blankets, or old sheets provide shelter from a storm or a roof in the jungle.
  • Materials such as postcards, photos , folders,  aprons, notepads, even old toilet rolls can all be used to set  a tiny person’s imagination on fire.

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” 
― Plato