Dramatic Play

For five-year-olds, dramatic play is social; pretending together is half the fun and gives them practice in applying their developing social skills. They enjoy interacting with one another — discussing roles, sharing ideas for props, trying out lines and even talking through a character’s motivation. Five-year-olds generally have a strong understanding of the difference between real and pretend. They’re entering a new realm of imagination where they can become other characters — easily slipping in and out of character — and still remain clear about their own identity. Their increased attention span also allows them to stick with and extend or return to dramatic play themes for long periods of time.

You can encourage your child’s love of pretending by supplying story ideas and open-ended props and materials. Encourage children to dramatize books, stories, movies and songs. Provide art and writing materials for making props and costumes and to write signs and scripts. And when social problems arise, invite children to role play and use their imagination and growing empathy to solve real-life problems.