Children are constantly bombarded with technology. One minute children are emailing family and friends and the next playing Wii. Not that these are bad activities for some children to participate in, but it does take creative opportunities away, such as playing make believe. Many families are starting to encourage children to pretend or play make believe due to the tough economy. It doesn’t take much time or money to allow children to participate in this type of creative activity.
Go on a Treasure Hunt
Before helping a child participate in any make believe activities, it is always important to go on a treasure hunt or a hunt for items that can be already found in the home. Listed below are some items to search for on the treasure hunt:
- old blankets or towels
- cardboard
- construction paper
- toilet paper or paper towel holders (the cardboard portion)
- crayons
- markers
- string
- glue
- scissors
- fabric scraps
- newspaper
- previously used computer paper (use the back side)
- pencils
- pens
- pots
- pans
- spoons
- previously used Halloween costumes
- string
- boxes
- tape
- straws
- aluminum foil
- plastic bottles or containers
- aluminum cans
A majority of these items can be found at home. If not, ask friends or family members if they have some of the needed materials. This will save your family a lot of money and help encourage creativity at the same time.
Decisions, Decisions
Once all the items have been gathered on the treasure hunt, brainstorm ideas on how to use the materials. Let the child lead this discussion. If the brainstorm session gets out of hand, ask the following questions:
- What would you like to do?
- How can we use (choose an items that was found on the treasure hunt)?
- Who is your favorite television character?
- What is your favorite book?
- Who do you like in the book or television show?
These questions may help the child narrow down what he or she would like to play. For example, if a child loves a particular story with princesses in it maybe she would like to pretend to be a princess (i.e. she could make a crown out of cardboard paper, a cape out of a blanket or towel, and a ballet leotard as the dress).
More Ideas for Make Believe
If a child is still struggling with figuring out what to pretend, offer some of the following ideas:
- king or queen
- prince or princess
- teacher (play school and allow the child to be the teacher while siblings and parents are the students)
- ninja (old Halloween outfits work out well for this)
- singer
- dancer
- athlete (of any sport)
- artist
- chef
- designer
- TV character (age appropriate)
- book character
- doctor
- store owner
- cashier
- veterinarian
- police officer
- firefighter
- mail carrier
There are so many things that a child can become in a make believe world. It is important that children have the opportunity to pretend and use creativity. This type of activity allows a child to not only become creative, but also develop communication skills, problem solving, and abstract thinking. So the next time a child complains that he or she is bored or is playing nonstop on the computer, offer the option of playing make believe as a cashier, princess, or whatever he or she would like to be. Playing make believe doesn’t cost any money, just a little quality time.
Tracy Criswell - Tracy Criswell is a stay-at-home mother of four, ages two to nine. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mother over a year ago, she was a ...
