What is dramatic play for preschoolers

What It Is and Why It’s Important

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November 5, 2021

Have you ever watched kids play dress-up to prepare for an audience with the Queen, or pretend that they’re astronauts headed into space, or leap around the living room without touching the floor because it’s lava? If so, you’ve witnessed dramatic play in action.

What is dramatic play? It’s the kind of play where kids take on roles and act them out as a way of exploring themselves and their surroundings. By pretending to be someone—or something—else, children can learn new ways to express themselves, share thoughts and ideas, and even get in touch with their feelings. Dramatic play is a very important part of childhood development.

There are three main stages of childhood development. There’s early childhood, which spans birth to eight years old. Next up is middle childhood from 8to 12 years of age, followed by adolescence, which covers ages 12 to 18. Dramatic play is important during the early childhood stage of development, as kids start to grow into themselves more and start to have a greater understanding of their individuality.

There are two types of dramatic play. They are:

Structured Play: This is the kind of play where there’s a game plan for the kind of play that kids are engaging in. This could mean a teacher or parent has created a scenario that has a definitive end point. For example, maybe they’re shopping at a grocery store, shipping a package at the post office, or buying a bouquet at the flower shop. In these scenarios, there are defined roles that are dictated by the situation, and the play leads to a specific conclusion (for example, completing their purchase at the grocery store).
Unstructured Play: This form of dramatic play is more freeform and left up to the kids to choose how they want to play, and how—or even if—it ends. This is where the classic “floor is lava” scenario comes into play, but other examples might be pretend play like being a dinosaur stomping around the living room or using a spoon as a “magnifying glass” while hunting for butterflies in the basement.

Examples of Dramatic Play

Young children may engage in dramatic play in a variety of ways, including:
Role-playing, such as being the parent to a doll or pretending to be a doctor seeing patients
Dressing up, whether putting on their parents’ clothes and shoes, or putting on a costume that was made specifically for them
Fixing things like the TV, the kitchen faucet, or the car, offering their diagnoses of the problem and how they can solve it

Exploring and adventuring, whether in their own room or the backyard, discovering new creatures and unseen worlds

Dramatic play benefits are numerous. In addition to supporting creativity and self-expression, dramatic play can help children learn real life skills and social skills that can serve them throughout their lives, from engaging in dramatic play for toddlers, to playtime in their preschool classroom, and beyond. Technology can also play a part in dramatic play, giving kids an entirely different arena in which to explore themselves and the world around them.

The benefits of dramatic play include:

Learning conflict resolution, helping children to learn creative problem-solving skills alongside their peers
Exploring self-empowerment, allowing kids the opportunity to make choices, act out their feelings, and find a new connection to themselves
Learning math and literacy, particularly in play that includes playing with numbers (like the grocery store game)
Blowing off steam, so overly energetic children have another outlet to decompress and have fun
Engaging in language development, encouraging kids to express themselves in different ways, whether playing a role or playing as themselves
Embracing self-regulation, especially in role-playing where children are expected to fulfill a particular part in the play scenario

There are many ways that educators and parents like you can encourage dramatic play, both in a school setting and at home. For example, you can:

Buy some fun clothes from a thrift store and suggest playing dress up at home, encouraging your child to embrace role playing and drive the play narrative
Make time for dramatic play in the classroom, using a theme as a guide and giving kids an outline to follow within that theme
Engage in your own form of dramatic play at home and encourage your kids to join in, whether it’s opening a pretend restaurant where you make pizza or going hunting for monsters in the house
Give students a toy that they must create a narrative around, and break the class up into groups to explore that narrative

It’s important for parents and teachers to collaborate on dramatic play efforts so that each side of the child’s developmental support system is aware of the progress happening both at home and at school. Although many teachers learn about dramatic play while they’re pursuing their degrees, parents might not be as aware of it—and how important it is for early childhood development. By partnering with a teacher who has in-depth knowledge of dramatic play, everyone can collaborate on the themes and approaches that best suit their child.

Although dramatic play can differ from child to child and classroom to home, its results are the same: vibrant, playful children who find strength and comfort in their own self-expression.

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The Incredible Benefits of Dramatic Play in Early Childhood Education

Does your playroom often get transformed into a pirate ship, a train station, or a campsite? Do you find yourself stocking up on Halloween costumes when they go on clearance after the holiday? Does your little one ask to be called “Officer” or “Doctor” rather than their first name?

You must have a kiddo who loves dramatic play!

And that’s a really, really good thing because there are so many benefits to dramatic play in early childhood.

The Incredible Benefits and Importance of Dramatic Play

Dramatic play is beneficial for toddlers and preschoolers.

What is Dramatic Play?

Dramatic play is s a type of play where children assign and accept roles and act them out.

It’s pretending to be someone or something else. Sometimes children take on real-world roles, other times they take on fantasy roles. A child might pretend to be someone new like a supervillain, or someone well known and familiar like mom.

The term dramatic play is sometimes interchanged with pretend play or imaginative play, but the distinction between the two is that dramatic play requires the child to assume a role whereas pretend play doesn’t necessarily require that.

Either way, it is play that involves breaking down the barriers of reality and results in serious and natural learning.

Examples of Dramatic Play

a child who pretends to feed and rock a doll to sleep
a child who pretends to fix a leaky faucet in the play kitchen
a child who pretends to be Spot the dog and plays fetch
a child who stirs counting bears in a bowl to make bear soup

Pretend play can take on multiple forms, and while pretending may just look like “playing”, it is integral to the developmental learning process and a critical piece in early child development. It should be encouraged, and children need lots of opportunities to engage.

Types of Dramatic Play

There are two types of pretend play, which are structured and unstructured dramatic play:

Structured play
- has a pre-determined set and desired outcome.
- A parent or teacher sets up a scenario for the children to play into, such as setting up an “airport”, and the children then choose and assign roles from what it available and then work through problems that arise within the set.
Unstructured play
- is where children have the freedom to choose their own plan scenarios and often create their own sets based on what is available to them.
- The living room couch might turn into a pirate ship or a shoelace might become a stethoscope in a veterinarian office.

Both have their challenges and advantages, and both should be included in early childhood.

Children can play dress up and gain the benefits of dramatic play.

The Benefits of Dramatic Play

Experts agree that dramatic play is an integral part of a well rounded preschool program as it is healthy for early childhood development. Here are just a few of the many incredible benefits of dramatic play.

Dramatic play teaches self-regulation.

Preschoolers are known for acting with impulse, so dramatic play is a great stepping stone for learning to self-regulate their emotions and actions.

Interestingly, when children assign and accept roles in dramatic play they are motivated to stick to them, thinking of them as rules to follow, even if they are made up by themselves. This helps children develop the ability to coordinate and plan with others as well as control their impulses.

Dramatic play encourages language development.

A question that is commonly asked is, “How does dramatic play promote language development?”

Dramatic play teaches and encourages expressive language and the use of new vocabulary. Children are motivated to communicate their wishes to their peers and therefore must learn to speak from the perspective of their pretend roles.

Additionally, dramatic play is often a very comfortable place for children who are shy or withdrawn to participate in a group. It serves as a safe place for children to learn and practice social skills.

Dramatic play teaches conflict resolution.

Both unstructured and structured dramatic play offer teachable moments about conflict resolution and problem solving.

Inevitably, disagreements will naturally arise during dramatic play, which offers children a chance to work through their differences and arrange a compromise. It also encourages children to consider alternate perspectives as they recognize various roles of people in their lives and communities.

When children engage in dramatic play, they have more opportunities to safely navigate social experiences.

Dramatic play supports math and literacy.

Dramatic play provides the perfect play setting for children to interact with functional math and print. Consider the child who is playing server at a restaurant. He will interact with both print and numbers as he takes orders, fills them and then rings up the total owed for the meal.

Dramatic play is also known for increasing comprehension as children love to act out their favorite storybooks.

Dramatic play relieves emotional tension.

Dramatic play offers a safe place for children to act out real life situations. Adults tend to cope with traumatic events by retelling stories again and again. Children cope with these events by acting them out.

Dramatic play is empowering to children.

This is not only because children can assign and accept their own roles in the play setting, but also because dramatic play offers a safe play for children to act out traumatic experiences mentioned above.

Typically when children act out dramatic or frightening experiences they place themselves in a powerful role. They choose to play mommy or daddy, two important figures in their lives, or a superhero with great powers. A child who has lived through real trauma, like a car accident, for example, might choose to be a paramedic or work at a doctor’s office.

Even toddlers benefit from dramatic play.

How to Encourage Dramatic Play

With so many benefits to including dramatic play, it’s important that it’s not overlooked when writing lesson plans for preschool. It’s all the more important to be deliberate and intentional about.

However, not all children naturally know how to play in a dramatic play setting. The learning experiences we create with our dramatic play ideas matter in the classroom. Here are some ways to encourage dramatic play.

Let kids play by themselves and with others.
- When kids play alone, they create their own games and their ideas have no limits. When playing with adults or peers, children are more likely to play along with social norms, which can help further develop their social-emotional skills.
Allow children to take the lead.
- As adults, it is tempting to guide children engaged in dramatic play. If they ask for help in navigating their storyline, you can suggest ideas. Otherwise, allow children to make the decisions and assign roles.
Encourage your preschoolers when they make creative use of toys and play items.
- The most valuable dramatic and pretend play doesn’t follow an instruction manual. Rather, encourage your children to turn a box into a tank or pirate ship, or use the play silks as superhero capes.
Play dress-up.
- This is the quintessential dramatic play act. Stock up on fun costumes and provide a variety of props that can be used in different scenarios. Turn the kitchen area into a grocery store or vet clinic, for example.
Build forts.
- Nothing encourages the imagination like a fort. With a few sheets draped over a couple of chairs, children can pretend they’re guarding a castle against invaders, hiding out from enemy spies, or camping out in the wilderness.
Host a tea party.
- This idea is another classic. When having a tea party in pretend play, children pick up on social interactions with people around them as they observe relationships. Tea parties are a great way to encourage empathy and kindness, too.

Just a few simple props can create many opportunities for solid play.

How to Set Up the Dramatic Play Area

Even if you are in a home setting, dramatic play benefits are abundant, if planned for. Here are 70+ easy ideas for the dramatic play center.

Drama games in preschool | Preschool education

Author: Tomilova Olga Viktorovna

Organization: GBDOU DS No. 67 comb. type of Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg

Settlement: St. Petersburg

Dramatic play is a spontaneous amateur activity during which the child tests, clarifies and expands knowledge about the world and about himself. As they play, children reenact places and scenes they have seen in life, imitate the actions of family members, and assume the roles of various people they have met. They reproduce the world that they understand, or one that brings confusion and fear into their minds.

From early childhood, children imitate the sounds they hear and the actions they see. While enjoying pretend activities, children react to new situations with movement and voice. That's how they play. This game, if supported, develops into dramatization: an art form, a socializing activity and a way of mastering reality.

Creative dramatization and play, especially in young children, cannot be isolated or limited to a certain place and time. In a group, at home or in a public place, creative dramatization and play help the child develop responsibility, develop new interests and, especially in a group, absorb new knowledge.

Dramatization is one of the most personal and individual ways of learning. In creative dramatization, there are no performers who memorize roles and use accessories and costumes to influence the audience. In such creative activities, children spontaneously invent, act out and interpret familiar situations and themes for themselves. For example, they act out situations based on real or imaginary roles that they have come into contact with in life, such as going to the zoo. In dramatic play, children create their own world in which they master the real world. In this imaginary world, they try to solve real life problems. They repeat, play again, and relive their experiences. In this way, dramatic play helps the child develop from a purely egocentric being into a person who is able to interact with others.

Developmental Influence

In dramatic play, children often spontaneously take on the role or actions of someone else (pretend to put out a fire like firemen), use objects in a substitution function (sit on a building block while pretending to ride on a truck through the streets) and play out familiar situations (going to the market or grocery store). For a rich and meaningful preschooler, this is the ideal arena for emotionally rich and meaningful learning. Dramatic play develops the child in every way. If the educator correctly organizes the activities of children, they will receive a versatile (mental and motor) experience that is adequate to their individual characteristics.

In creative dramatization and play, a preschooler performs actions that:

1) contribute to the development of the five senses;

2) develop active and passive speech;

3) help children understand human relationships and learn patterns of behavior;

4) link ideas to each other;

5) stimulate creative thought and problem solving;

6) increase self-respect;

7) develop ways of expressing emotions and feelings;

8) develop fine and general motor skills;

9) signify the joy and freedom of childhood.

While playing, children learn to concentrate, exercise their imagination, try out new ideas, practice adult behaviors, and gain a sense that they influence the world around them. In addition, children gain a growing understanding of the beauty, rhythm, and organization of their environment and their own bodies as they learn ways to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and emotions to others.

Social development

The role-playing game almost always involves the participation of several children, so it is the most important factor in the social development of the child. The game often includes elements of joint planning and cooperation. Children may argue and get upset, but they get used to dealing with the interests of others. At the same time, they begin to understand that it is interesting and pleasant to play and study with peers.

Emotional development

Children bring to play what they know about life: their knowledge and delusions, their wishes and fears.

Play reflects children's understanding of social roles and relationships. Children can also act out events they have experienced or heard about. They may act out a frightening event, such as an accident they witnessed, to help deal with difficult emotions. They may also replay pleasant events to re-experience the pleasure.

In role-play, children can dress up and become whoever they want to be. Children depict people and events not only as they would like to see them, thereby expressing their desires or fears. The game gives the child the opportunity to express negative feelings that the child cannot yet put into words.

In play, children act out life experiences by selecting and organizing roles and events in accordance with the desire to maintain emotional well-being. Through play, children increase their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, their attachments and dislikes, their ability to lead and persuade or obey. All this contributes to the development of self-awareness.

Intellectual development

During drama play, children develop cognitive skills, learning to connect one with another, to understand patterns of behavior and to organize information. They try ideas and learn from trial and error, they plan and execute plans, and form a vision of the past, present, and future. Children use memory to reconstruct people and events. In the game, children create using materials and toys in completely new ways. Thus, dramatic play stimulates mental development not only through the support of creative manifestations, but also through the involvement of speech skills that play a key role in thinking and communication.

Literature used:

1. Filatova O. Theatrical game-dramatization // Game and children. - 2013. - № 2.

2. Silivon V. The development of creativity in children in the process of dramatization games // Preschool education. - 1983. - No. 4.

3. Makhaneva M.D. Theatrical classes in kindergarten: A guide for employees of preschool institutions. - M.: TC Sphere, 2004.

Published: 10/18/2021

The role of play-dramatization in the development of preschool children | Article (middle group):

The role of play-dramatization in the development of speech of preschool children

According to many domestic researchers (L.S. Vygodsky, A.N. children of preschool age, in which the most important changes take place in the child's psyche, within which mental processes develop, preparing the child's transition to a new higher stage of his development. The game is used by teachers for the purpose of teaching and educating children. It is the development of the child's personality, speech, mental processes, moral qualities.

A special place in the development of speech in preschool children is played by dramatization, which is a unique tool, since in the process of such a game the sound culture of speech and its intonational structure develop.

In the works of domestic psychologists and teachers, dramatization or theatrical play is considered as an activity that plays an important role in the development of preschoolers and is a kind of creative play.

Dramatization game is a kind of theatrical game and is widely used in the process of education and comprehensive development of children, is the process of formation and development of the personal qualities of each child, his intellect, emotions, creative abilities.

L.S. Vygotsky considers dramatization as the most common type of children's creativity, since the dramatic form of reflecting life impressions is inherent in the nature of children. Theatrical play in psychological, pedagogical and cultural studies is understood, on the one hand, as a type of activity, and on the other, as a means of development. Researchers M.A. Vasilyeva, S.A. Kozlova, D.B. Elkonin believe that theatrical games are close to art, so they are called "creative games".

In pedagogical literature, special attention is paid to the game-dramatization, as a means of developing children, through which the creative abilities of the child are revealed, there is a positive effect on the sound culture of speech and its intonational structure.

In the process of dramatization, speech develops, which is a necessary condition for the child's adaptation in society. In games of a dramatic type, children develop arbitrariness, special sensitivity and attention to the actions of people in life, the ability to see and understand the meaning of the simplest actions of a person, his feelings, relationships with people, nature.

Many scientists (S. I. Merzlyakova, L.G. Milanovich, N.F. Sorokina) believe that the game-dramatization is universal in nature, since it contributes to the development of motor, cognitive and emotional spheres, as well as the socialization of children.

In his study of theatrical play, L.V. Artemov, refers to the opinion of L.S. Vygotsky, who says that a theatrical game is an unusually emotionally rich activity in which children allow adult guidance without noticing it, since the desire to play a fairy tale is enormous, a fairy tale brings joy and surprise. "theater" - these words indicate the relationship of theatrical games with the theater. Theater is a comprehensive activity that combines the word, image, music, dance. It has a special cognitive moment, characteristic only for it, its own reflection of the world, unlike other types of art. (K.S. Stanislavsky)

In a number of studies, the content component of theatrical games is considered as the possibility of creating different scenarios: improvisation, short scenes, dramatizations of a literary text. (O.A. Akulova, E.E. Kravtsova)

Participating in a dramatization game, children get acquainted with the world around them through images, colors, sounds, through the questions they ask, they learn to think, analyze, draw conclusions and generalizations. The development of speech is closely related to mental development. In the course of work on the expressiveness of the characters' replicas, their own statements, the child's vocabulary is enriched, the sound culture of speech and its intonational structure are improved. The spoken remarks and the role played put the child in front of the need to express himself clearly and clearly.

Dramatization is based on the actions of the performer, who can use finger puppets and bibabo puppets, which is consistent with the definition: “to dramatize means to act out any literary work in persons, maintaining the sequence of the episodes told in it and conveying the characters' characters”. The child uses all means of expression: facial expressions, intonation, pantomime. It is important that in the game the kid transforms into a character, controls his actions. During such games, intensive development of speech occurs, imagination develops, vocabulary is enriched, and the creative abilities of the child are revealed. All this is reflected in the further development of the child, and in the future on his educational activities. Therefore, dramatization games are necessary and useful for the child at all stages of his development.

Such games are loved by children, because by participating in them, children get acquainted with the world around them through images, sounds, colors. The great and versatile influence of play-dramatization on the personality of the child makes it possible to use them as a strong and at the same time unobtrusive pedagogical tool.

The purpose of dramatization game is to emancipate each child involved in it, and the main task is to develop intonation and mimic expressiveness in children. Dramatization can manifest itself in a variety of forms: as improvisation and composing scenes based on the content of a fairy tale, its staging and theatrical production of a fairy tale.