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    “Back to Pre-School” Benefits of Pretend Play

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    Disclosure:  I will receive the same prize pack from below in exchange for sharing this information.

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    My 3 year daughter’s favorite activity is pretend play, specifically dressing up.  Something about putting on a costume and assuming the role of someone else is pretty cool to her, and it was to my boys as well.  It’s funny how my boys would put on a super hero costume and they would act like they have super strength or my daughter wears a princess dress and acts like a princess.  Whatever kids choose to dress up as, there is so much that is learned and achieved from pretend play.

    Great Pretenders is a company that has been around since 1989 and is a small family-run company, but don’t let “small” make you think they don’t have a lot to offer!  Great Pretenders is an award-winning children’s costume line that has even collaborated with industry leaders such as Pottery Barn.  They strive to produce only quality costumes that both parents and kids will love.  According to Kate Muddiman, Creative Director, Great Pretenders, “Surely pretend play has many benefits for child development but one of the main things is that it’s also FUN for parents and for children! It’s a great bonding experience, especially when you participate in your child’s make belief world.”

    What are the benefits of pretend play?

    Children learn by imagining and doing. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas. Dress-up play is vital to a child’s development. According to licensed child psychologist Dr. Laurie Zelinger, “It fosters the imaginative processes, and allows for play without rules or script. Dress up allows for experimentation, role play and fantasy.“

    1. Social and Emotional Skills

    Dress up allows for experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, children learn societal rules such as how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. Character play means that the child is “walking in someone else’s shoes” and it encourages teamwork along with an interest in peers. The child also learns to negotiate which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. Since children see the world form their own point of view, cooperative play helps them understand the feelings of others.

    2. Language Skills

    When children engage in pretend play, you will hear words and phrases you never thought they knew. Pretend play requires children to invent and tell stories and since almost all children narrate their pretend play experiences, they train their minds to transform ideas into words. Children usually mimic words and ideas from parents, teachers, daycare or what they hear on TV. This repetition builds vocabulary and helps kids visualize what they say, especially when adults offer feedback to help kids better understand the words they use. This also helps with grammar – they may not know the rules but they are training themselves to speak like adults. This also helps make the connection between spoken and written language — a skill that will later help them to read.

    3. Self-Control

    Young kids typically have little self-control. During pretend play, children have to take a role and play within those boundaries, especially when other kids are involved. Studies show that children control their impulses significantly better during pretend play than at other times. Did you ever wonder why parents often make up a game to get their children to eat their vegetables or finish chores? Transforming an unappealing task into a make-believe game is a popular trick among clever parents and educators.

    4. Problem Solving Skills

    Pretend play also provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it’s the logistics of sharing toys or a pretend problem the children are escaping from, the child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever. Role playing games lead children to face situations that far exceed kids’ real-life experiences. Children work out confusing, scary, or new life issues. Through these role plays, children become more comfortable and prepared for life events in a safe way. Children often use pretend play to work out more personal challenging life events too, whether it is coping with an illness in the family, the absence of a parent or divorce, or a house fire. Although kids may not always act logically during tough pretend dilemmas, the very process of problem solving becomes habitual. By practicing problem solving in an artificial environment, kids are better prepared to think of creative solutions to their own real-life problems

    5. Self-esteem

    By giving your child complete control in their pretend world and accepting them as a silly character, you are enhancing their self-esteem. While they use their own initiative to develop story lines, their creative imagination to expand stories and their own personality to choose a character they enjoy, you are enhancing their self-esteem by allowing them complete power in the world & enjoying it with them. Take for example superheroes. Considering the thrill children get out of pretending to be a grown-up, it’s no wonder that they’re also crazy about mimicking the most powerful version of adults: superheroes by putting on some costumes or even a superhero capes. Pretending to be Batman or Wonder Woman allows a toddler to feel brave and invincible, which helps them develop self-confidence. Similarly, all that running and leaping keeps them active and builds strength, balance, and coordination.

    Great Pretenders caters to both boys and girls with their amazing outfits and accessories.  Their prices are even affordable, with many under $30.  I love that they are committed to both high quality and providing the best value for your dollar.  All of their products are also easy-case and with maximum sizing flexibility so your child can get their use out of them!  With my three kids dressing up pretty much daily, we need high products that will last and ones my kids want to wear.

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    Comments

    6. Melanie Comello says

      My little girl would absolutely love the Fairy Blooms Deluxe Dress Green with Wings and the Flower Fairy with Wings!!

      Reply

    22. Connie Gruning says

      Oh my goodness! So many cute choices! I love the Marie Antoinette Gown (Turquoise, Md) SO CUTE!!!!! Thank you for the chance!

      Reply

    61. lissa crane says

      I would love to have the New Sprouts® Garden Fresh Salad Set for my little ones! Since they are always trying to help me with preparing dinner, this would be perfect!

      Reply

    62. lissa crane says

      I would also love to have the Garden Fairy Dress, in Magenta for my kiddo! With Halloween right around the corner, this would be perfect!

      Reply

    79. Cassie Hayes says

      My daughter would love the Flower Fairy with Wings costume set. I don’t like that the site doesn’t show a size on it though. Can’t pick or see what it is.

      Reply

    84. Shanna Uptergrove says

      Oh my goodness, that Fancy Nancy costume is TDF!!! Sooooo cute! My girls have several FN books and would love that dress.

      Reply

    112. Jenn Park says

      My daughter would love anything from the site, but especially the Fairytale Princess Blue or the Crystal/Snow Queen items! Thank you for the chance.

      Reply

    133. Kat says

      The Snow Queen Cape ($25) is great! Thanks for sharing this great site —just in time for Halloween cosutme shopping. 🙂

      Reply

    141. Victoria says

      My daughter would say each dress was her favorite as she looked at it, but my favorite is the Marie Antoinette gown

      Reply

    154. Linda Manns says

      My granddaughter would love the Fairytale Flower Princess Gown with Hat, Blue. Such cute things for dress up

      Reply

    172. Vanessa says

      Oh my gosh thank you so much for the opportunity to win and all that you do! My daughter would love a tiara specifically the, “Fairy Princess Tiara New”. Lovely.

      Reply

    175. victoria lynch says

      I just adore the Monarch Butterfly Dress with Wings! My niece would look adorable in it. II was really impressed with the prices. Very reasonable!

      Reply

    178. Debra S says

      Well……………the girls have SO much already, for dress up,. I think I’d get Bat wings or Spider cape, for the boys, so they have more to use.

      Reply

    185. Nicole Flynn says

      Gosh, there are so many nice pretend play outfits. I love the Rainbow Fairy costume, but the Monarch Butterfly with wings is pretty great too. I remember that being my favorite butterfly when I was little and would see them fairly often in the neighborhood I grew up in ( it was in the woods near a river) I don’t see them too often , or really at all anymore. So I would probably pick that one if I were to buy from there, it is unique and honors one of my favorite insects, okay it may be only one of a very few that I even like.

      Reply

    193. Melissa Hartley says

      I like the Fire-Breathing Dragon costume .. my friend’s 3 y/o son JJ would love it 🙂
      Thanks, if I win this would go to my other friend’s 2 y/o daughter Xali.

      Reply

    202. Colleen Maurina says

      My granddaughter would love this! My little grandson would love their Spider Cape Set with Mask and Wristbands.

      Reply

    206. Lisa Williams says

      My daughter would so love the Garden Fairy Dress!!!These are so adorable!where were these cute dresses when I was little?I would’ve wanted all of them!

      Reply

    212. Darlene Demell says

      My grandaughter loves the color purple just like I do and she loves dresses. She would love the Storybook Series – Precious Purple

      Reply

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