Play, Story, and the Imagination

By Kate Greenberg

    If there were two things I loved as a child, they were playing pretend and telling stories. My parents joke that my catchphrase was, "And guess what?" This was my go-to question for ensuring my audience was interested in the story I was telling.

    My twin sister and I have both complemented our parents on their approach to play and language in our formative years. Between my sister studying for her doctorate in audiology and me completing my master's degree in elementary education, early language development and acquisition is a shared topic of interest. We often call each other to discuss what we have learned through our individual program's different approaches. We quickly came to the consensus that language acquisition and play in early childhood share a direct link, and despite not being aware of the science, our parents seemed to have an innate understanding of this. We are grateful for the steps our parents took to incorporate storytelling and play into our childhood.

Imaginative play is, "a nourishing habitat for cognitive, narrative, and social connectivity" (Paley 2004, as cited by Genishi & Dyson 2009).

Photo by Sandy Millar (@sandym10) via Unsplash

    Imaginative play allows children to practice language in a variety of contexts that would otherwise be inaccessible (Han, Tan 2021). Through play, children can be doctors, teachers, parents, or anything else they can imagine. Adults in these roles speak differently than children normally do. Children recognize these differences and incorporate them into their play (Genishi & Dyson 2009). Children at play may be more formal or authoritative in their tone and language as they take on positions of maturity, power, and leadership, which are not often granted to young ones. As children explore these unique roles, they explore each role's unique language.

    I remember many of the games my twin sister, younger brother and I used to play with our neighbors. Some of them were based in reality, such as school and house. Sometimes the school would be more creative, with each person creating a clubhouse with chalk on the driveway and thinking of a class they could teach to the others. Examples included acting, dancing, skateboarding, and drawing. Sometimes the playset became a circus tent, where one of us would become the ring leader and draw the imaginary audience's attention to the feats of acrobatics and bravery being performed. Sometimes we would reenact our favorite movies, often inserting our own characters and events to deviate from the storyline. My favorite games were when we created worlds entirely our own. I fondly remember a frequently played game called "Little Girl Lost in Space," in which I was the little girl taken on adventures through the cosmos. These roles, settings, and adventures were outside our reach as children, but completely accessible through play.

    Each game we created had its own world, and each world had its own set of rules and expectations. In doing this, we were learning and practicing literary and social elements. We mutually agreed upon settings, characters, and storylines. As one of us played a character, it was expected that we would be faithful to that character. Different characters had different personalities, goals, and dynamics. As we played, we manipulated literary concepts at a young age that are not explicitly taught until children are ready to read and write. But storytelling and imagination need not and should not be limited by any academic benchmark.

    We shared the goal of creating a narrative that was interesting and fun. As with any age, multiple people working on a shared task do not always agree on a course of action. We learned how to handle disagreements through verbal communication. If that failed, we stepped away from the game and approached it with fresh ideas the next day. Through this we were learning and practicing social-emotional skills in an organic, real-life setting.

Imaginative play "boosts the development of problem-solving and self-regulation skills. Imaginative play with peers can create situations in which not everyone gets what they want...the child who doesn’t get what he wants needs to learn how to manage unpleasant emotions for play to continue" (Tan 2021).

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry (@phillipgold) via Unsplash

    I took this dramatic play with me into the classroom, both as a student and teacher. During my undergraduate studies at Skidmore College I volunteered in the Early Childhood Center, an on-campus preschool. On my first day I was excited to see a dress up rack of clothes and accessories. I was in awe of the worlds the students created. Immediately after the students learned the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle there was a rush to the dress up rack for astronaut suits. The children had a mission: blast off in the rocket ship to search for the cat with the fiddle, the cow that jumped over the moon, the little dog that laughed, and the dish that ran away with the spoon. They were embracing the literacy lesson through play. They took ownership of the story and made it their own. They manipulated the language of the story and made it come alive.

"Pretend play (also known as dramatic play or role play) is critical for developing oral language. Researchers discovered that children engaged in pretend play often use higher forms of language than they would use in normal situations" (Han).

    

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz (@jessicarockowitz) via Unsplash

    Play is vital to young children's brain development, health, stress management, trauma recovery, social bonding, and academic success (Kamenetz 2018), and yet it is disappearing from schools (Kamenetz 2018, Genishi & Dyson 2009). All children need to develop play habits is an opportunity.  Children have a natural propensity for play (Genishi & Dyson 2009). Toys and costumes can support this play, but so can everyday objects. We all have imaginations, even if some adults have not used theirs in a while. Let children lead with their interests and ideas and support them by asking questions. If a child is playing a game with you or telling you a story, you can always ask, "What comes next?" to keep the action moving (Tan 2021). You can add to the play by contributing your own ideas and details. Any comment you make, even if it is to point out something seemingly obvious, is absorbed by the child and aids in their language acquisition. 

   While the play may be pretend, the learning and benefits are real. Ensure your child has time to play now, and the payoff in later years will be great. But one need not wait years to see the benefits of play. The smile on your child's face as they explore their imagination will be all that is needed to indicate time well spent.

References

Genishi, C., & Dyson, A. H. (2009). Children, language, and literacy: Diverse learners in diverse times. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Han, M. (n.d.). The power of pretend play in language & literacy learning. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://thegeniusofplay.org/genius/expert-advice/articles/the-power-of-pretend-play-in-language-and-literacy-learning.aspx#.YBnR7-hKg2w

Kamenetz, A. (2018, August 31). 5 proven benefits of play. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/08/31/642567651/5-proven-benefits-of-play

Tan, R. (2021, January 29). The benefits of imaginative play. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://therapyfocus.org.au/on-the-blog/the-benefits-of-imaginative-play/#:~:text=It%20provides%20an%20opportunity%20for,everyone%20gets%20what%20they%20want.