Prior to transitioning to middle school in the fall, I often worried if our youngest son spent too much time in imaginative play. He's ten years old but still loves to play with stuffed animals, puppets, manipulatives, blocks, and trains. When other children seem to be so "grown up", he seems to find comfort in playing creatively with imaginative type play. After watching his successful, responsible transition to middle school and taking a step back to observe the benefits of his play, I no longer worry. I celebrate. Maybe I even envy him a little.
As a pre-k teacher, I know the benefits of play for young children. Play is their work. True learning takes place during child directed, imaginative play. It is an essential part of appropriate developmental growth. In a world where children seem to be pushed to mature much too quickly, play seems to have become lost. When a child still engages in imaginative play, they seem to be immature according to today's standards. But the benefits we have observed from his play are incredibly important to his development and his emotional growth.
Although our son has global developmental delays, his greatest area of delay has consistently been in the areas of language, communication, and reading. In spite of that, he LOVES language, communication, and reading. He is always writing plays, stories, or poems. We frequently struggle to get him to complete a reading homework assignment but an hour later find him down in the basement writing a play for his stuffed animals to act out. Reading a chapter for homework is torture for him and for us but he wants to hear a bedtime story every single night and frequently writes his own short stories and poems. Play allows him to creatively express those thoughts, ideas, and stories that are locked inside that constantly spinning brain.
Play is often a reflection of our son's worries and concerns. Our youngest son rarely opens up and discusses what he is worried about. Instead, he tends to internalize negative emotions. Observing his play can shed insight into his thoughts and fears. For example, my husband has had several medical tests/procedures this month as the doctors attempt to find some answers regarding his health. Although we have discussed the situation with the boys, individually and as a family, our youngest son has still been worried. Recently, he has forgotten his homework agenda and assignments several times. Other behaviors showed us that he may be worrying about what was going on with his father's health. The clearest indication that we needed to get him talking and share his worries was when he started playing surgeon. This is not one of his typical imaginative play activities. Multiple times in the last week or so, we have found him in the basement wearing gloves, hovering over a "patient" as he performed surgery. Interacting with him during these moments or getting him to tell us about his play activity allowed insight into what he was thinking and feeling.
One of the greatest benefits of our son's imaginative play is the way it hones his problem solving skills. As you may have surmised, our son has almost free reign of the basement. It's his kingdom. His domain. While creating worlds of imagination, he needs to figure out what materials he has at his disposal; what he can use to realistically act out the scenario he has created in my mind; and what will most accurately create the world he is imagining. His favorite scenario is creating a classroom. It often involves seating, test tables, syllabus, worksheets, and students. Observing his classroom play provides great insight into how things are going for him at school. Another favorite activity is when he creates the Chopped kitchen. Chopped, from the Food Network, is one of his favorite shows. He often acts out the cooking competition with his stuffed animals. Surprisingly, he rarely wins the competition. Apparently Bear cooks a pretty mean dish of chili. Becoming a chef is one of his future aspirations. It's a goal he continues to push us toward. The frequency of this play scenario tells us how important it is to him.
Imaginative play allows our son to express himself and work through the tornado that spins through his mind on a daily basis. This non-structured, self-driven time allows him to relax, express himself, and be who he really is without expectations, parameters, or guidelines. There are no IEP goals. No OT, PT, or speech goals. It's just him and his imagination figuring things out together. I think I could learn a thing or two from my son. I think I need more time to play. Less time meeting other people's expectations, time restraints, and deadlines. More play. Less work. Maybe then I could learn to attack life ferociously like he does.
