You smile as your three-year-old darts past you, declaring he’s a pirate stranded on a desert island—also known as the pile of pillows he stacked up in the living room. His siblings trail behind, each wearing an array of dress-up clothes and choosing a swashbuckling pirate identity for themselves.

Your kids’ pirate adventures may just seem like some simple afternoon of fun, but they’re actually engaging in a positive learning experience called dramatic play. You may have heard of dramatic play before, but you’re not quite sure what it is or why it matters for your kids.

根据一个小时假装游戏时间的东西可能似乎不重要，但据了解国家幼儿教育协会(NAEYC). We have the scoop on what dramatic play entails, why it matters and how you can encourage this activity with your kids.

What is dramatic play?

戏剧性的游戏可能听起来像一个花哨的教育术语，但这是你可能已经熟悉的东西。“戏剧性的戏剧，也称为假装戏剧，涉及演出真实世界的情况并承担不同角色的角色，”前幼儿园老师和创始人莉莉·琼斯说好奇包装。

有两种类型的戏剧性游戏：结构化和非结构化。非结构化的戏剧游戏为儿童提供了选择自己的角色和播放情景的自由。另一方面，结构化戏剧戏剧具有具体的指导方针，据Child Care Exchange。Children are presented with a pre-determined scenario and then must make choices and discover solutions.

Both structured and unstructured dramatic play are important for your children’s emotional and social development. Maybe you remember dramatic play from your own childhood as “make-believe” or “playing house.” Whatever you want to call it, it’s an important opportunity for kids to act out scenarios from the real world and fictional lands alike.

戏剧性的5个理由很重要

Dramatic play is an integral part of a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development, according tonaeyc.。以下是戏剧性戏剧的五个重要方面：

1. Dramatic play teaches self-regulation

幼儿和学龄前儿童令人震惊地表现出来，但戏剧性的游戏是对自我调节的积极踏脚石。Naeyc注意到儿童往往是高度动力的，以遵循规则并坚持戏剧的角色。这有助于他们在他们抑制冲动，与他人协调并制定计划的能力中增长。

2.戏剧性的游戏给孩子一个情感的出口

Dramatic play allows kids to act out scenarios they’ve seen or heard in real life, giving them an important emotional outlet. “Young children do not yet think internally,” explainsBarbara E. Harvey, executive director of Parents, Teachers and Advocates. “Children use dramatic play to explore their own thoughts and feelings.”

This is especially important for children who have seen something upsetting or scary in their daily lives. Dramatic play gives them an opportunity to sort through difficult emotions and “practice being in the world,” according to Jones.

3. Dramatic play teaches conflict resolution

Both unstructured and structured dramatic play offer teachable moments about conflict resolution. Disagreements between children will crop up naturally during unstructured dramatic play, which offers a chance for kids to work through their differences and arrange a compromise.

Dramatic play encourages children to resolve conflict, consider alternative perspectives and recognize the various roles and responsibilities individuals have in our society, according toChild Care Exchange。Structured dramatic play encourages children to consider a specific problem and propose their own solutions.

4. Dramatic play supports literacy

据学者。例如，正在播放杂货店的孩子将以购物清单，优惠券和结帐收据的形式接触文本。这使他们有机会通过我们在日常生活中使用文本的许多方式获得第一手经验。

Dramatic play can also increase reading comprehension. Kids often choose to act out scenes from a favorite storybook. This gives them a deeper understanding of the narrative structure and character motivations found in familiar stories.

5. Dramatic play allows you to support your kids and encourage their ideas

Like we said above, kids process their inner thoughts and emotions externally through dramatic play. That means you can learn a lot about what makes your kids happy, scared or frustrated just through observing their pretend play.

The next time you see your kids acting as pirates, firefighters or chefs, pay attention. This is your chance to foster ideas by asking open-ended questions or to help your kids work through difficult emotions, Harvey says.

How can you encourage dramatic play?

现在你知道戏剧性的游戏很重要，但你如何将其纳入孩子的时间表？答案比你想象的更容易。孩子们自然地倾向于戏剧性的戏剧，所以他们只需要在他们离开并跑步之前从你那里得到一点鼓励。

Start a dress-up box filled with scarves, hats and other props that children can use as costumes, Harvey suggests. These don’t have to be full-blown Halloween costumes – keep it simple to let them use their imaginations! If you have the space, you should also try to make a designated area for dramatic play, Jones recommends. Fill this space with props like paper and pencils, blankets, cardboard boxes and other items that children can put to use in unstructured pretend play.

And don’t forget to build free time into your kids’ day! They can’t initiate dramatic play if their schedules are filled to the brim with other activities.

准备好，设置，玩！

Now that you know what dramatic play is and why it matters, you have everything you need to encourage this important type of play in your kids’ lives.

If you love supporting your kids in their dramatic play adventures, you might be destined to help other kids in a career as a teacher! Find outwhy you should consider becoming a teachertoday!