Imaginative Play Ideas for Kids

Kids can take part in many different activities to have fun and develop as a person but one of the most popular is playing imaginative games.

Today’s blog will go over some imaginative play ideas for your school and why they are so popular among children.

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What is Imaginative Play?

Imaginative play is simply when children are acting out a wide variety of experiences that they know (or more commonly known as ‘role-playing’). Often overlooked by many parents, children really do like this form of play as it can be incredibly interesting and fun for the kids who are taking part in it. Check out this post to find out more about sensory playground ideas and designs as well.

Alongside this fact, this activity has a lot of benefits for those who participate. Some of these benefits include:

Understanding more about the adult world and how it works.
Introducing children to new and different situations.
Developing their social skills.
Improving imaginative functions.
Having a moment to relax and unwind.
Greater knowledge of emotions.

Knowing all these factors, the idea of this activity becomes a lot more appealing to children. It’s not just a form of entertainment but also a form of exploration and understanding. Imaginative games offer plenty of benefits for children of all ages. This is one way of meeting Ofsted requirements for playgrounds if you are looking to improve your outdoor space.

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Imaginative Playground Activities

On the playground, there are ways in which you can create a more suitable environment that encourages role-play and imaginative playground activities a lot more. Whether it is alterations of the flooring to introducing new facilities to the outdoor space, certain features can help spark children’s creativity.

A common surface that is used on playgrounds is wetpour rubber flooring. Using this material allows for the installation of wetpour graphics which can be installed on top of the flooring to reflect certain designs (e.g. snakes, rainbows, footprints). These bright and vibrant designs will engage the children whilst sparking their imagination early.

Little shelters can also help with imaginative games as they provide a new environment for kids to find themselves in. With this, kids can use these new environments in conjunction with their role play ideas to feel a lot more engaged with the activity. You can even incorporate learning with things like play area maths games or letters and words.

Providing the kids with certain materials as well (like props, costumes etc.) will help them get into character a lot easier and feel a lot more comfortable role-playing. Imaginative games and pretend play ideas should allow youngsters to escape easy without any problems whilst being able to enjoy the activity in full. When all of these are combined, the playground becomes a lot livelier and more colourful and children will therefore start having stronger feelings of wonder and excitement in that environment.

Using Children’s Imagination for Play

A child’s imagination is an amazing tool when it comes to play time as it offers a lot more excitement and thrill for the activity the children may be taking part in. Imagination can improve the current activity and keep the kids engaged and stop them from getting bored too easy. Click here to see another post that explains the benefits of children using their imaginations.

For example, by using some of the imaginative props and materials in combination with a little den, you can create an environment in which pupils can decide what the story is, and role-play it out. Whether it’s about entering a dragon’s cave to save someone or pretending to own a shop, giving them these materials and encouraging them to participate is a great method.

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Here you can see a video showing our team installing a roadway design onto an existing play area. A surface like this is perfect for teaching children road safety and allowing them to make up their own games.

You may know that playing is a great method of engaging children into learning as when kids find something fun, they can learn a lot quicker than normal. Roleplay and pretend play allow this factor to occur and help kids learn certain aspects like Maths and English quickly. Knowing these skills, a lot more proficiently can help with understanding other playground games. These can all be included as part of independent learning games which encourage children to discover new things themselves.

Role Play Games for Kids

A few pretend play games which you can try to incorporate during sessions are things like:

City role play – Having road lines be drawn onto your playground with little stalls on the side of the road can create the environment of a busy town. It can also be a time to teach kids about road safety and how to act in public. Those who run the shops can also learn basic maths and communication skills.
Cooking show – Kids love to have a snack from time to time. Creating an environment that allows pupils to mess around with food to create new and unique dishes can really get them into the spirit of a chef. As well as this, it can be a method for teaching children more about food and trying to promote healthy alternatives.
Medieval stories – Knights, queens, mystical beasts and treasure is all you have to say to get kids excited for playtime. Children will feel amazed in the world of fantasy that is created and will learn a lot of about bravery, royalty and morals. Alongside this, it can be incredibly fun and interesting for the kids to take part in.

Overall, role play is incredibly vital to a children’s development and not only that but is incredibly favoured by children due to how fun it is. Schools and parents should really encourage these pretend play activities as there are a lot of benefits to those who take part.

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If you’re considering making your playground more suitable for these activities with imaginative play ideas for kids, then send our team a message and get some of the best service and advice in the industry.

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