Importance of Imitative Play in your Kids Development

We all know how important play is in the lives of kids. It’s through play that your kid learns about shapes and colors, discovers textures, listens to different sounds and explores the world in general.

And because imitating older people is an instinct that children have, imitative play is undeniably a very important kind of play that becomes one of your kid’s prime source of learning.

By imitating older people whether it’s her parents, older siblings, grandparents or neighbors, your kid learns how to do things. From simple things like waving bye-bye and clapping his hands to more complex ones such as using the telephone or turning off lights, your kid learns all these through imitation.

Actions are not the only thing that imitative play is able to teach your kid but words as well. It is through imitation that your kid learns about words, how to enunciate them and how to use them in every day communication.

That’s why it is important that you provide your kid with opportunities for imitative play and games that will hone his skills and teach him to do things. The great thing about imitative plays is that they are highly interactive and are instrumental in honing a variety of skills focusing on bodily awareness and language development.

One kind of imitative play is the Simon Says games, a variation of that is the Monkey See Monkey Do which involves having your kid imitate a variety of actions that you do. This is good in teaching him how to do an array of actions like jumping up and down, putting your hands over your eyes and so on.

Another type of imitative play include playing with toy versions of real-life things like talking on a toy telephone or cooking in a kids play kitchens.

What’s great about this kind of imitative play is that it prepares your kid for real-life duties and responsibilities. Through your kid’s toy telephone you can teach her proper phone courtesy. On the other hand, having your daughter play in her kids play kitchen teaches her one of the many responsibilities of a homemaker without making it seem like a chore.

Aside from that imitative toys like kids play kitchens are excellent props for imaginative pretend plays which are also necessary and instrumental in honing your kid’s creative imagination. While your kid is in her kids play kitchen, she can imagine to be the greatest cook in the world, cooking up an exquisite world-class banquet.

Not only that, imitative plays also bring out any potential that your kid may have. For example, if you find your kid toying with his ride on toy and see that he has a knack for mechanical gear, he may be a mechanical engineer waiting to bloom. Or if your daughter has a flair for concocting delightful toy dishes in her children play kitchens, there may be a little chef insider her.