Kitchen Playsets: Let's Pretend To Be Mom Cooking

Children are perhaps the best observers there is. This is quite evident when a child is at play with perhaps their play kitchens set and why the mass media emphasize on the importance of viewer discretion and parents' taking heed of it.

Studies have long been found out (and of which most people already know by now) that the kind of home or environment the child lives in reflects the behavior of the child and the kind of interaction that he has toward his peers, thus giving way to the issue of nature vs. nurture. In this argument that has held long battles between believers and skeptics alike, while the nature, or the genetic attributes, of the child may have a great role in the making up of the character of the child, the environment that he moves in is just as significant.

This is why children act like little adults. If a parent should take some time in observing from a considerable distance the child who is at play, especially with other children, one may notice some little gestures or words that may sound familiar to one's ears. For example, a little girl playing with her kitchen toys set may say to a doll or a playmate, “Please get that bowl for me, dear” or “Will you get that spatula for me, sweetie?” perhaps along with an absentminded pat on the head or on the shoulders, which was emulated from a parent.

True, isn't it? Thus, a happy environment produces a happy child and needless to say, is also the same with an unhappy child from unhappy environment.

But why do children imitate at all and why do they indulge a lot in pretending to be doing things that adults do? This is perhaps one of the questions that has baffled so many parents.

Generally, children tend to do a lot of mimicking as this is actually the way that they can gain understanding of the world around us. Only in make believe can they identify themselves and understand the events happening around them. It's like a hands-on experience for them, only it involves toys, like kitchen play sets, and not real things. With pretending, they can then understand how Mommy cooks and what it's like to do something that is near to it.

While children play make believe in general, boys and girls tend to have a different attitude toward the activity itself. On the one hand, girls tend to like playing in which they can interact with toys and do activities with. Boys, on the other hand, like doing things where they can manipulate objects and do things to, so a parent may occasionally notice his or her son breaking apart a toy then try to put it back all together.

Parents should create a warm and supportive environment where play is conducive for the child. Only then can a child have a positive outlook toward life when he or she is provided such. Of course, parents should also take some time in having activities with the child himself to build his self-confidence.