Social interaction skills
Toddlers explore pretend roles during dramatic play with peers.
New items for the dramatic play area (see Be Prepared)
Bear’s Busy Family (A Barefoot Board Book) by Stella Blackstone
Be Prepared: Add items to the dramatic play area that will appeal to toddlers and support pretend play that toddlers determine. Possibilities: purses, wallets, hats, scarves, chunky necklaces, neckties, vests, shoes, baby bottles, extra-small diapers, empty food boxes and containers, pots and pans.
Invite several toddlers to play in the dramatic play area. Introduce the new items and use their initial responses to the items to talk about how the materials could be used in their play. Examples: “Devon, you like to play with the baby dolls. Would you like to use the new bottles and diapers with your babies?” “LaShawn, I see you are looking at the new dress-up clothes. What do you want to dress up as?” As toddlers share their ideas, encourage them to play together. Example: “LaShawn wants to dress up and go to a restaurant. Who would like to be a chef and cook in the restaurant with our new pots and pans?”
As toddlers play, look for opportunities to provide play cues that expand their interactions with the materials and each other. Examples: “Devon, you changed your baby’s diaper and gave him a bottle. What are you going to do next with your baby?” “Gavin is dressing up. He is wearing a necktie and a hat! Maybe Gavin should go to the restaurant with LaShawn! LaShawn, would you like Gavin to go to the restaurant with you?”
If appropriate, suggest using a new material with an item consistently available in the area. Example: “Gabby, I see that you are putting your baby to bed. Would you like to choose a book to read to your baby before she goes to sleep?”
Toddlers may invite you into their play. Be careful to join them without changing the direction of their play. Example: “Cayden wants me to be a waitress at his restaurant. Can I take your food order, LaShawn? What would you like to eat tonight?”
Recognize and acknowledge all play efforts. Example: “Maya had fun pretending to be a chef with the new pots and pans. LaShawn had fun ordering his favorite food!”
Providing real items in the dramatic play area may spark new interest in pretend play and provide a greater variety of roles for toddlers to explore. Some toddlers may prefer to watch and possibly imitate others. Some toddlers will enjoy exploring new roles with the new materials. Toddlers may act out familiar routines, such as bedtime, or work through difficult experiences, such as saying goodbye to a parent.
Provide suggestions and cues that extend toddlers’ play without dominating their actions. Some toddlers will prefer to watch and may imitate the play of others. These are initial steps in learning how to play with others.
Extra support
Enrichment
Social interaction skills
Toddlers engage in theme-based pretend play with their peers.
Items that encourage a new play theme
Leo Gets a Checkup by Anna McQuinn
My Doctor’s Visit by Cara Florance and Jon Florance
Going to the Doctor by Anne Civardi (Usborne First Experience series)
Corduroy Goes to the Doctor by Don Freeman
Be Prepared: Select and provide special props to support pretend play related to a theme of interest to toddlers. Example: For a theme focused on going to the doctor (often popular with toddlers), add medical face masks, scrub shirts, stethoscopes, bandages, clean medicine syringes, clipboard with paper and pens. Other play themes may include getting a haircut, taking a pet to the vet, shopping at a shoe store, being a construction worker, or working in an office. Providing new materials related to a theme of interest to toddlers is central to this activity option.
Invite several toddlers to play together with the new items in a theme you suggest. You may wish to provide a book or two with pictures of the new items that toddlers can look at and learn about. Talk with the toddlers about new roles they may be interested in exploring with the materials. Example: In a doctor play theme, toddlers may want to pretend to be a doctor, a nurse, a patient, or a parent taking a child to an appointment. Help toddlers plan ways to play together. Example: “Chloe and Hayley want to be doctors. Who would like to be a patient for them to take care of?”
Similar to Option 1, demonstrate uses of items, if appropriate, and look for opportunities to provide play cues that expand the toddlers’ interactions with the materials and each other. If toddlers invite you into their play, take care to join them without changing the direction of their play. Recognize and affirm all efforts to participate in pretend play. Example: “We played doctor’s office together. Chloe and Hayley were doctors and Nolan was the patient. I pretended to be Nolan’s mother, and I held his hand when Hayley gave him a shot. We had fun playing together!”
This activity option is more challenging than Option 1 because it begins with a play theme related to new materials. Option 1 begins with new materials and encourages play with the materials that may or may not emerge into a theme.
Toddlers enjoy acting out familiar experiences. Pretending to be a doctor, vet, hairstylist, or shopper are roles that toddlers can connect to their personal lives. Some toddlers will need extra support as they interact with new materials. (See Extra Support tip.) Other toddlers will pick up new props and find ways to use them independently. Some toddlers may prefer to watch the play, and others may play beside other toddlers. Some toddlers may need extra support to join in the play. Toddlers can learn new social skills by watching as well as carrying out pretend play.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: new items provided in Options 1 and/or 2
Provide time for the toddlers to explore and play with the new materials independently and with friends. Toddlers will enjoy finding new ways to interact and explore social roles that they were unable to engage in during the planned activity. Talk with the toddlers about their ideas and actions as they play.
Materials Needed: Option 2 items
It is likely that the Option 2 theme will be of interest to preschool-age and older children in your setting. Encourage their participation. Toddlers will enjoy watching, imitating, and joining in the play of the older children. Older infants may enjoy being “doctored” gently with a stethoscope and loose bandages with close caregiver supervision.
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