All types of play are essential and are innately part of a children’s childhood. Give children the freedom to be outdoors in an open space, playing with water in the backyard or in a designated play area, children will decide how and what direction the game will unfold.

Role play is an incredibly important part of children’s understanding of their world and sense of self. If we sit back and watch any child engaged in role-play we can begin to learn about their world and experiences.

When children take on the role of another person, they are starting to understand what it would be like to be someone else. This starts from a very young age for example, when a two-year-old plays in their pretend kitchen making dinner or a five-year-old cuddling a doll and taking them for a walk in their pram.

What children see in their world they then recreate in role play to understand what it would be like to be that person. This helps to develop children’s empathy, an incredibly important skill needed in our society. We often hear children repeating sentences we say when we cook in the kitchen or when we take care of our children. Our children are constantly taking in everything we do and say.

This type of play helps children to understand their role in their family, in their community and in wider society. We can encourage it by providing open ended play resources (boxes, blocks, marbles, icy pole sticks, leaves, flowers, sticks, pebbles- really the sky is the limit) alongside some good “staples” I like to call them, such as; a wooden kitchen, utensils, prams, dolls, dollhouses and dress ups.

The next important part is that children are left to explore the materials without adult interaction. Children need to feel unrestricted and able to use them in anyway. If your child/ren then invite you to play, of course do so! But to start children need to feel free without any rules and restrictions. Toys, such as from  Kids Ride Wild are a great place to start. 

Another very important part of role play is to make it real life, so put dried pasta in their pretend kitchens. Let them use water to wash and bathe their dolls outside. The more real, the better the experience and understanding it will create for the child.

The last important aspect is to always mix it up at home. So if you have a doctors corner for a few weeks and your child loses interest change into a  market stall or a supermarket. You don’t need lots of resources, just using what you have at home and thinking about how you can change it up (Instagram has some wonderful people who do this or pinterest, to get some ideas!).

The most important memories made in every childhood are the ones where children are just left to play, so let’s give our children a childhood they can truly enjoy and create memories they will cherish forever.