Pretend Play: Cardboard Airplanes

I'm so excited about the pretend play theme! My kids are spontaneously very good at this. We have a plethora of moving boxes right now, and my kids wanted to turn a couple of the boxes into airplanes. My husband took a Sharpie marker and started drawing on them.

Here is the airplane. Each "wing" has an engine. The back flap has a tail. Look inside and you can see a steering wheel. To the right on the inside is a drawn walkie-talkie. But the dashboard is the coolest.
My husband starting asking my kids what other "buttons" they would like on their control panel. I'll list, in the words of my 5 year old, what some of these buttons are: the birthday cake button, just in case if you have a birthday on the plane; a pizza button, for if you want to eat pizza; a present button, just in case we have a birthday too; a cereal button with a bowl and spoon and milk button if you want that; a hot dog button just in case if you want a hot dog; the big star button for going super super fast; the little star button is for going super super slow; a worm bed button just in case you have a pet worm; and a bed button for us to sleep on; a binoculars button, for looking far away, just in case if you didn't bring any; a key and a keyhole; and a balloon button, for if you have a birthday; and don't forget a gas tank and the speed thing that tells you how very fast you are going. And don't forget the air behind the engine, to show that it is going fast.
Here are my boys sitting in their planes, talking into the pretend walkie-talkies in their hands. They push each button to make magic happen (I have eaten so many cakes, pizzas and hot dogs today). They have spent at least two hours out of the last 24 hours in these boxes. Amazing, and so much fun!

Pretend Play: Cardboard Airplanes

http://laugh-learn-love.blogspot.com/2008/07/pretend-play-cardboard-airplanes.html

Theme of the Week Challenge

There were several positive responses to the Bright Idea I gave on June 27 about Pretend Play. I thought making it a week long theme would give us all the opportunity to share the ideas and expereince we have in this area.

Most of us realize that planning out imaginary play is difficult, and even impossible at times. The truth is, the best pretend play is often spontaneous. I have found the only way to prepare for it is to have lots of ideas at my fingertips. The more examples I read about online, or see at friend's houses, the easier it is to immediately encourage my child's imagination when he starts showing interest in something.

I know you moms have all done some pretend play, so please take TWO MINUTES and share ideas. (Don't tell me you don't have 2 minutes, or you shouldn't be surfing the internet.) Here are some questions to get you started. Which scenarios does your child love to act out? What details have you added to extend your child's pretend play. What do you keep in your costume box? Have you made some simple homemade props? What books did you try acting out? What toys are great for encouraging imaginary play?

And while I'd much rather read what you have done, here are some other ideas I came across while searching the web.
Brain Play (pages 1-2 list benefits of pretend play, 3 gives suggestions for you to follow, and page 4 has specific ideas of props/scenarios)
Pretend Play in the Elementary Years (5 ideas for scenarios)
Still Stuck on Pretend Play (ideas for scenarios and props)

Theme of the Week Challenge

http://laugh-learn-love.blogspot.com/2008/07/theme-of-week-challenge.html

Bright Idea: Pretend Play

Lately, Pretend Play has been once again gaining respect in the education department. I first read an NPR article titled Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills that I had seen referenced over on the Growinginpeace blog. It discusses how kids have become less self-regulated over the years--that essentially means they don't learn how to control themselves anymore--in part because they aren't engaging in pretend play. The study showed that pretend play allows children to act out social roles, and let them practice reacting in certain situations. (Those are my words; the conclusion I have come to after reading lots of information.) By the way, self-regulation is a huge predictor of how well the child will later do in school (and in life situations I might add). I'd like to write a nice long post with all my thoughts on it, but for now I'll cut to the Bright Idea part. I trust you will go read this short article to get a better idea of the importance of this activity.

To help our home engage in pretend play on a regular basis I decided to make two lists: a list of people (occupations), and a list of places. We then randomly choose one from each list and act it out. You can't imagine what fun it is to pretend you are a Zoo Keeper in a Library, or dentist on the moon, or a pirate at his birthday party. It keeps your child's interest and tests their ability to think through a new situation and what needs to change. And it's just plain fun.

If you would like to get a copy of my list, you can email me at LaughLearnLoveBlog@gmail.com (the L words are in alphabetical order if you forget). But be patient as I might not get around to sending it until next week.

Another pretend play option is to act out stories you read regularly; fairy tales are the perfect example. If you can get a few different versions of a story, that helps too. It teaches your child how to adapt to the changes in detail without altering the essential storyline.

More Reading on Pretend Play:
NPR: Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control
Playing to Learn
Self-Regulation in the Early Childhood Classroom
Tools of the Mind: Info for Parents and Playgroup Ideas
Tools of the Mind and Self-Regulation Learning: Does it Work?

Bright Idea: Pretend Play

http://laugh-learn-love.blogspot.com/2008/06/bright-idea-pretend-play.html