How Role Playing Benefits in Child Development?

Children learn many things from toys and through playing. They learn the art of continuous attention and focus through playing.

Kids love to copy their surroundings. For instance, they play with kitchen set, doctor set, doll houses, and other role playing toys to imitate the activities they see in daily life.

This article is about the benefits of role-playing and its benefits for kids.

Let's get started!

What Is Role Playing?

Role-playing, also known as pretend playing, is a type of play where kids copy real-time situations, surroundings, or characters and act according to that using their imaginations and creativity. In role-playing, your kids will follow some themes and characters and copy them. For example, your child will copy the way their teacher delivers the lecture, or they copy the way their mother cooks in the kitchen.

During the role-play, your child will consider themselves a chosen character and create scenes and situations based on imagination and creativity. They can do all this with the help of role-play toys or simple things around them.

Role Playing Its Impact on Child Development

A research published in Pakistan Journal of Educational Research concluded that, role play is a healthy activity that strengthens the science concepts among children and also enhances their creative abilities.

Role playing benefits your child's development as they help them to think freely. Moreover, pretend play games effectively develop a child’s personality, emotions, skills, and attitude. Kids being in charge of role play games feel more motivated and encouraged.

The perks of role-playing toys are as follows.

Boosts Imagination

Suppose your little girl is playing with a role-play toy, for example, a kitchen set. She will pretend to use spoons, plates, and other kitchen utensils while cooking. This process will boost her imagination. Moreover, she will understand the purpose of different kitchen utensils—for example, spatula, rolling pin, plates, cups etc.

Helps With Educational Stuff

Through pretend play, your little ones will learn about their surroundings. For example, if you bought your little one a board and chalk. They will role-play a teacher's role and mimic their teacher's way of conducting the class. Such an activity help them with educational stuff too. They can learn different topics quickly. E.g. sum, subtraction and other concepts.

Also Read: How to Make Homework Fun for Kids? A Parental Guide

Teaches Different Scenarios

Play acting is when your little one copies a real-time situations around them. For example, your little one visited a grocery shop and saw the cashier making bills. Later by using cashier money toys, they can create their situations and learn the art of collecting money. Similarly, your little one has visited a doctor who prescribed some medicines by writing them on a notepad. Your kid can pretend to play it by writing something on a page or notepad and acting as if he is a doctor. 

Lets Explore New Ideas And Their Surroundings

Children, indeed, learn while observing their surroundings. For example, you happen to visit a zoo with your kid, and they see cats and dogs making different noises. When you give him an animal set, they will pretend to play with that specific animal and make noise or even buy a costume for themselves that relates them to that animal. This way, they know the different voices of animals and how they behave. All this adds up to their knowledge.

Improves Communication Skills

Role-playing toys are the best way to improve your kids' communication and language skills. For example, your little girl and her friends are having imaginary or pretend tea parties using a tea party set toy. They will pretend to be pouring natural tea into the cups and drinking it. They will communicate with each other on this topic. Moreover, they will share ideas, and everyone will use their imagination. Consequently, it will improve their communication skills.

Also Read: 5 Effective Ways to Teach Your Toddler How to Talk

Enhances Emotional & Social Skills

Role-playing is the best play where your child can promote their emotional development as role-playing characters will give them a sense of empathy, cooperation and consideration towards their fellow beings. Moreover, your kids will communicate and enhance their social skills too. For example, when your baby plays doctor-patient and creates a scene where his little teddy is ill. He will be worried and give his teddy medicine. It develops emotional attachment, and your baby will know the worth of emotional feelings. 

Promotes Physical Development

Children love to play, and they are very active when they are playing. When your child is role-playing, he may have opted for a character that jumps, walks, runs etc. It is the best way for their physical development too. For example, if your kids play police-man and thief, one will act as a policeman while the other assumes to be a thief, and they will be running. It will help in their physical development.

Boosts Kids’ Confidence

Role-playing toys help a child use their instructions and directions, boosting the confidence. Doing different roles and discussing different ideas with their fellows will give them confidence as they know what they are doing. For example, when your little one and their friends are playing with cars and pretending who will win, in this process, they are boosting their confidence and preparing themselves for real-life achievements.

Gives Freedom To Play

Role-playing toys help your child use their imaginations and follow what they want to do. It gives kids a sense of freedom since they may play and create circumstances that fascinate them. Every child is independent and wants people to consider them independent too. By playing with role-play toys, they can use their imaginations and characters.

Examples Of Role Playing Activities

Role-playing or pretend-playing is simple to play. Kids only need pretend-play toys. Watching your kids engaging in a simulated play will give you an idea of their thoughts. Furthermore, you will know their state of mind.

Let us see the examples of role-play toys and ideas for your babies and kids

• Cooking with kitchen set
• Dressing up dolls
• Playing with doll house
• Teacher and student play
• Pretend playing tea party
• Playing with cars
• Playing with animals
• Talking toys that mimic words and phrases
• Playing tea parties
• Playing doctor-patient

Also Read: How to Choose the Best Educational Toys for Kids’ Early Age Development

Bottom Line

Role-playing or pretend-playing has many benefits for your kids. Your kids can use their imaginations and create situations according to their creativity. Moreover, it boosts your little one's thinking processes and lets them think many times in different ways. It is always fun for children to role-play, and role-play toys are best for them as they aid them in using their fantasies and creativity. Furthermore, role-playing has endless benefits for your child's healthy growth. It is up to you how you can let them use their imaginative thoughts and apply them in real life.