Pretend Play for Preschoolers

Pretending is so important, I have probably blogged about it before! Right now, my preschooler is pretending his left over pizza is a birthday cake (he even remembered his Daddy's cake from last year). He went outside and got some candles (sticks) and put them on his cake. My husband said he normally would not let him play with his food, but he is done eating and he has a good story going.

He now has sang Happy Birthday to his daddy and will not let daddy sing. It is his birthday.

Not only is it cute, it is very good for brain development. Also, pretend play correlates with reading. Learning to read it assigning an abstract sound to a shape (letter). Pretending a pizza with sticks on it is a birthday cake is assigning a role to an object that is not the right role.

It is the same process. So encourage pretending, even if it means playing with the food!