By Kathy Eugster
May 17, 2021
Imaginative and creative play is not only a wonderful way for children to have fun, it is also a very natural way for children to learn about the world. This type of play involves a child’s whole body: physically, mentally and socially. Actively using their large and small muscles as well as their different senses in play, children develop healthy, strong, and complete neurological connections in their brains.
This article will help parents with some ideas on how to set up imaginative and creative play activities for their 3 – 10 year-old children that will encourage healthy development.
What is Imaginative and Creative Play?
Children play imaginatively and creatively in various different ways based on many factors such as age, play environment, or toys provided. Children can engage in imaginative and creative play by themselves or with others.
Imaginative (imaginary) play happens when children use their imaginations to create pretend and make-believe scenarios. Children can engage in this type of play using almost any object to represent something. This is known as symbolic play. For example, a block could be a car, several different sized stones could be a family, a box could be a boat, or a stick could be a person.
Children can use different types of toys, such as little people or dolls, small toy animals, toy cars and other vehicles, puppets, toy household or real-life items to use in imaginary play. Additionally, children can act out a particular role themselves and become part of a play drama, often dressing up and using props for this kind of imaginary play.
Arts and crafts, and construction/building play are also ways for children to express their imaginations and creativity. This kind of play encourages more focus and concentration, and develops fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. It also allows children to feel proud of themselves and gain a sense of mastery after they have created something themselves.
The type of play known as games with rules includes, for example, board games, card games, and structured sports activities. This type of play becomes important for children as they grow older, especially from ages 6 or 7 and up. With this type of play, the focus is on learning and playing by the rules and often involves a winner or loser. There is much less room for children to use their imaginations and creative abilities with this type of play because it is structured and rule-bound. (That being said, children can often play creatively with games or activities that have rules by making up their own rules.) Although games and activities with rules are important for children in learning to deal with competition, structure, and the real world, creative and imaginative play is also very important for children’s healthy development and should not be ignored in favor of games with rules.
Why Encourage Imaginative and Creative Play?
As stated above, playing in imaginative and creative ways are some of the best ways for children to learn about their world. Imaginary play allows children to act out scenarios that may be of interest to them. Children love to play out situations that have happened to them in real life, for example, playing family, school or medical scenarios. They will experiment by playing out different roles, perspectives, and outcomes to get a better understanding of a wide variety of different situations.
When playing out these different roles and outcomes, children will experience a wide range of feelings. This type of play helps children to understand and manage many different feelings, some of which may even be unpleasant.
Imaginative and creative play provides many opportunities to children to engage in sensorimotor play. Sensorimotor play happens when children use their different senses in combination with movement. We now know that sensorimotor play is extremely important for children in the healthy development of their nervous systems, and for the development of self-regulation skills.
Imaginative and creative play allows children to express themselves non-verbally. Children do not have fully developed expressive language skills, so play is like a language for children in that it can allow adults to better understand children’s feelings and perspectives.
Imaginative and creative play is also very important for cognitive development. Children are free to think up new ideas, to experiment, to problem-solve, to plan ahead, and to achieve goals all in the context of a play environment.
What Will Block Imaginative and Creative Play?
Screens and Electronic Devices:
These days, electronic devices are a normal and necessary part of life for practically all of us, children included. However, one of the most concerning aspects of raising children is the amount of time they spend in front of these electronic devices and screens.
When children focus their attention onto a screen, it can be a very passive form of learning or entertainment, generally using visual and auditory stimulation, and may or may not require some response using fine motor skills. This can be viewed as a somewhat artificial way of learning about the world, especially for children under 6 or 7 years, because it does not engage children in a kinesthetic manner using their entire bodies.
Lack of Unstructured or Free Time:
Parents often want to encourage their children to learn and may believe the only way for them to learn is through structured activities. Of course, children need educational opportunities and chances to learn specific skills, both inside and outside home and school. However, a too rigid schedule that has many structured activities where the main focus is on the achievement of specific outcomes can become detrimental and cause not only stress and anxiety for children, but also can prevent children from using their imaginations and creative skills.
It is important to allow your child enough free time to engage in imaginative and creative play either on their own, with other children, or with you. The good news is that, as a parent, you can get involved with your child to support his or her imaginative and creative play. Although children can play imaginatively and creatively on their own or with other children, they generally love it when their parents are interested and can provide focused attention during play time.
How Can You Encourage Your Child to Play Imaginatively and Creatively?
There are a number of ways you can encourage and support your child to play imaginatively and creatively. Let’s have a look at these strategies:
- Creating the play environment: Have toys available that promote creativity and imagination.
- Using child-directed play strategies: Allowing your child freedom to be imaginative and creative.
- Using parent-directed play strategies: Prompting imaginary and creative play.
Creating the Play Environment
Although children can generally use almost any object to represent something, it is important to provide children with safe and age-appropriate toys. Toys and objects that encourage creativity and imagination are often “open-ended” which means they can be used in many different ways.
Here are some toy categories that would encourage imaginative and creative play:
- Miniature figures, such as people, animals, dolls, puppets, vehicles, fantasy figures Hint: Children usually love it when you take a photo of what they have set up with the toys.
- Dress-up items, such as old clothes, costumes, gloves, hats, shoes Hint: You may want to video your child in costume for fun viewing later. Alternately, a mirror is fun for children to view themselves.
- Real-life toys such as play kitchen, store, medical, musical items Hint: Children love these “props” for pretend play.
- Active toys such as balls, scooters, ring toss, indoor basketball Hint: Refrain from following specific rules for games; let your child make up the rules to promote creativity.
- Construction toys such as building sets, magnet sets, blocks Hint: In order to stimulate your child’s imagination, try to avoid making structures according to specific instructions; allow your child to create something.
- Basic art and craft supplies Hint: To encourage creativity, avoid craft projects that have instructions for a specific outcome and let your child create his or her own designs.
Try to select a few toys from each of the categories listed above for you child’s toy collection. Your child will gravitate towards favorite toys and play activities, however, having a variety of different kinds of toys available for your child to freely choose from will inspire creativity.
Using Child-Directed Play Strategies
The best imaginative and creative play will occur when your child is the one that leads and directs the play activity, not when you tell your child what to do and how to do it. In other words, child-directed play is the type of play that will allow your child the freedom to be imaginative and creative.
Please see the following Blogs for more information about child-directed play:
6 Key Concepts for Child-Directed Play with Your 3-10 Year-old Child
Troubleshooting Child-Directed Play
In child-directive play, you put yourself in a nondirective role and allow your child to lead and direct the play activity. You allow your child to make choices and decisions on what to do and how to do things and you follow your child’s directions (as long as the choices are safe and nondestructive). In child-directed play, you will not tell your child what to do or how to do it. Play the game or activity according to your child’s rules and directions (as long as things are safe and nondestructive).
Using Parent-Directed Play Strategies
Parents may also choose to take on a more directive role in playtime with their children by using parent-directed play strategies. You may want to prompt or encourage imaginary and creative play in your child. In child-directed play, you would let your child decide what to play with and how to play with it. In parent-directed play, you would provide some structure as to what the play involves. The goal is to get your child interested and engaged in the play activity, without you taking over the play entirely.
In child-directed play, you know to let your child structure the play activity and you will follow along as long as things stay safe and nondestructive. But in parent-directed play, you may decide to “jump in” to a more directive role yourself and be more directive by:
- setting up a play activity or scenario
- adding something to the play to make it more fun or interesting,
- making the play easier or more challenging
- assisting or supporting your child with something
Please see the following Blog for more information about parent-directed play:
Parent-Directed Playtime: Different than Child-Directed Playtime but just as important!
Ideally, after using parent-directed play strategies, your child will naturally start to engage in the play and begin to use their imaginative and creative skills. It is at this point that you would switch your role from directive to nondirective, or in other words you would switch from parent-directed play to child-directed play. This is a fantastic skill for parents to develop in order to encourage imaginative and creative play. That is, to be able to determine when your child is interested and engaged in the play and to know that this is the time to “back off” to a more nondirective role and let your child take over and play imaginatively and creatively.
Please see the following Blog for more information about switching from parent-directed play to child-directed play:
Advanced Parent-Child Playtime: Switching Between Child-Directed Play and Parent-Directed Play
It is important, especially with parent-directed play, not to take over the play activity. This can be very tricky to do! When you are encouraging imaginative and creative play, know that this is not the time to teach your child a specific skill. Teaching is best done at other times. To encourage imaginative and creative play, we want to allow children to make their own choices and decisions and to learn through natural consequences. Remember to keep in mind as well that you are not just trying to entertain your child, but rather you are engaging interactively together.
Imaginative and Creative Play Ideas
Here are just a few ideas to help you get going with creative and imaginative play. Remember you can use both child-directed and parent-directed play strategies. It is so important for parents to know when to “jump in” with parent-directed play strategies to engage their children in play and when to “back off” with child-directed play strategies to allow their child’s imaginative and creative play to flourish.
- Create your own house, school, hospital, farm, town, fort, space outpost, fantasy land
- Set up a store, restaurant, picnic, birthday party, theatre performance
- Make up your own games
A suggestion for you:
- Choose a time that is convenient for you and your child where you can be one-to-one with your child for 30 minutes without outside distractions.
- Take your child to a safe and child-friendly play area where there are a variety of toys (ideally from the different categories outlined above) available to your child.
- Use child-directed and parent-directed play strategies to encourage your child to engage in imaginative or creative play. Remember to use parent-directed play strategies only as necessary to get your child engaged in imaginative and creative play, and then return to child-directed play strategies to allow your child to fully engage in his or her own imaginative and creative play.
- Have fun and enjoy each other’s company! Set limits for unsafe or destructive behaviors only. Remember, this is not a time for teaching or correcting your child.
- Schedule another 30-minute one-to-one playtime for some time next week (or sooner if you want!).
Here’s something really interesting and encouraging:
Research tells us there are many benefits for both parent and child if parents can have a 30-minute one-to-one playtime that includes lots of child-directed play once per week! This is not a huge time commitment for something with such enormous benefits.
You may want to consider this:
If you are interested in learning more about parent-child play, please see my book, Play Skills for Parents: Connecting With Your Child Through Play, for guidelines. This book will help make playtime easier and more enjoyable for you and your child. My book is unique in that it will provide you with a framework for engaging in parent-child play that can be applied to any play activity.
Also, you may want to subscribe to my email list (see below) to be the first to know when I post new Blogs, usually every month.
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Copyright Kathy Eugster, MA, 2021.
This article has been revised from my earlier article published in 2008.
Please feel free to pass on this article to anyone you think might find it useful.
Contact me at: keugster@telus.net