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The developmental benefits of dramatic play
By Annabelle Black Delfin
It was a sunny afternoon, the outdoor space at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum had just opened, and children and families were enjoying the new picnic area. The sand pit was full with children exploring the interaction of water and sand while family members sat close by, watching them play. On the grassy area by the Rubik’s cube climbing structure, several children began to play dragon riders, pretending to fly around on dragons with the climbing structure as the castle. I listened as the children negotiated their roles, titles, and types of dragons for the play scenario. At first they flew around, but soon a storyline emerged as they worked out their familial relationships and goals as dragon riders.
“Let’s be twin sisters, and we have dragons that can fly! My dragon is blue, it can fly to the castle.”
This spontaneous play episode, among children who had not met before, is something that is quite commonly seen. When we think of play, this type of pretend role-play (or dramatic play, as it is called in early childhood circles) often comes to mind. Children will seek and produce opportunities to engage in dramatic play without much prompting.
Child developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky noted that dramatic play serves multiple purposes for children, all of which drive cognitive, linguistic, and social development. Dramatic play includes role play, where children take on a role and maybe even dress up in a costume that exemplifies that role. It also includes any type of play where a child gives voice to an object, such as toy cars or miniature people in a doll house, and operates those items as they interact with other similar items. Sometimes children can even be seen engaged in dramatic play by themselves where the dialogue is inaudible.
In dramatic play, children demonstrate understanding that an item can be symbolically substituted by using an item to represent another item, such as using a banana as a telephone or lock blocks to create a climbing harness. They are also aware that some play props have a symbolic function, such as a firefighter hat, where the symbolism of the play prop informs the role the child takes up. As children come to understand symbols and symbolic representation, they engage in dramatic play of more depth, utilizing and fashioning items in the environment to further the storyline.
“The cube is the castle! We can land the dragons right here while we go inside. Come on, sister.”
A four year old mermaid gets a ride on Dad’s shoulders.
Another way that dramatic play fosters development is in the social-emotional area. In order to engage in role play, children have to understand a great deal about social relationships and emotional responses. They have to be able to generate dialogue, negotiate roles, and plot direction with the other players. For example, if a child is playing dragon rider and is developing their character through the play dialogue with other players in the game, this indicates that the child can hold and manage multiple mental representations and relations between them simultaneously.
“Let’s pretend that your dragon gets hurt and you have to land, and we will land by you so we can help your dragon, OK?”
“OK, you be the dragon doctor and I will be sad because Minxie is hurt.”
When a storyline like this takes hold as the children enact the storyline, a meta-cognitive aspect enters the play where the children map out the plot through negotiation and then act out the plan. This is cognitively heavy work for young children. The child has to differentiate between what is real and what is not, what is a normative conversation that would occur between these fictional characters, and what are normative actions in which the child’s pretend character would engage. Understanding symbolic functions and actions reveals the presence of abstract or symbolic thought.
Besides, dramatic play is fun. It is a risk-free zone to try out different roles, actions, behaviors, and language. When pretending with others, there is constant novelty, as each child can change the direction of the play episode, resulting in children adapting to and negotiating the change in plot direction. Interactions such as this that involve mental representation, language production, emotional regulation, social knowledge, and creative expression are cognitive exercises that foster growth and development.
Parents can support their children’s growth and development by encouraging and maybe even joining in dramatic play. This can occur spontaneously, such as selecting a toy car to drive around when a child is playing with cars. Maybe having one car strike up a conversation with another car, or a parent agreeing to be the sibling in a play version of home living. Providing access to play props and accessories such as hats, scarves, boots, gloves, bags, and costumes can inspire role play. Items such as this can be purchased inexpensively from thrift stores or specific occupational costumes can be purchased, such as police officer, firefighter, chef, or doctor. Parents and others can expand the play episode by asking questions or making suggestions, such as, “Let;s pretend the sisters make pizza.” This could lead to making pizza from other symbolically substituted items like mud or playdough.
A mom and daughter have fun dressing as a forest fairy and a mermaid at the SF Renaissance Faire.
Families can also join in dramatic play in community events, such as the Annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire at Rancho de los Golondrinas. This highly attended event is so fun because everybody dresses up and engages in role play all day—adults and children alike. In addition to the royal court, there are knights, princesses, elves, fairies, pirates, and mermaids. There are booths and exhibits, and they are made to look like magical destinations in this pretend world. Even among the adult participants, novel storylines emerge, such as where is Peter Pan? That results in other characters searching for Peter Pan and ending up in Never, Never Land with the Lost Boys. These kinds of events provide information and inspiration for subsequent play scenarios at home.
It is fun and easy to promote your children’s engagement in dramatic play. Here are some tips.
- Make small dramatic play spaces with props such as pretend cell phone, keyboard, and office supplies, or a miniature kitchen with supplies and pretend food.
- Provide costumes and dress-up items like wings, capes, etc.
- Keep these on hand for making a fort: Baskets, binder clips, twine, and small blankets or pieces of cloth.
- Join pretend play, but don’t take the lead.
- Ask open ended questions to expand the plot: “What would happen if we…?”
There are many types of play, but the benefits of dramatic play—where a child takes on an imaginary role or gives voice to an object—are profound and drive other areas of development and growth in all of the early learning domains.
A mom and daughter have fun dressing as a forest fairy and a mermaid at the SF Renaissance Faire.
Annabelle Black Delfin has spent her life in New Mexico. Since starting her first babysitting enterprise as a teen, she has been interested in how young children grow and develop. She has run after-school programs, summer camps, youth-service nonprofits, and childcare, among other programs for kids in Santa Fe. Annabelle is a mom of two and has a 5-year-old granddaughter. Annabelle is currently the director of research at the New Mexico Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Education of WNMU.
