Anyone else play with paper dolls as a kid? Remember the colonial dresses and bonnets with the tabs on the sides? You’d think playing with paper would get old, but I remember spending hours cutting and decorating clothes and creating stories with my siblings. Well, colonial dolls were fun and all, but now I prefer cats.
Dolls (or paper cats, as the case may be) give children a chance to explore a specific type of play known in child development as "dramatic play". Dramatic play is great for children of all ages, but preschoolers just can't seem to get enough of it! It gives them a safe setting to practice all those social skills they've been picking up on for the last three or four years. You may notice your child working through a very specific social interaction or norm over and over again. For example, my children loved getting the paper cats ready for bed. They would take off their play clothes, give the cats a pretend bath in a cardboard box, put on their pajamas, then try to convince the reluctant Roc and Flint to lay down in their construction paper beds. When they were playing they were in charge of bedtime and got to act out what would happen if, say, the cats decided to jump on the bed instead, without having to do it in real life. What kinds of social games do your children like to role play?
The other aspect of this surprisingly engaging activity is creating the clothes and accessories. Creative play is always great for kids and it doesn't just mean coloring or painting! A big part of creative play is finding innovative solutions and uses for things. I've included a few things to get you started, but encourage your children to think outside the box. Dig through your recycling to see what sparks their imagination. Maybe a bottle cap can be a bowl and a tissue box can be a car! I can’t wait to see where this activity takes you! Comment below or even post some pictures on social media with #rocandflint so I can see!
#papercrafts #freeactivities #paperdolls #activitiesforpreschoolers #dramaticplay #creativeplay #preschoolathome #childrensbooks
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