Young children are natural actors. They imitate the voices, actions, behaviors, and expressions of those around them, usually with uncanny accuracy. Whether laying role-play at being a teacher, shopkeeper, or, even, action hero, these little pretending activities are more than enjoyment and entertainment; indeed, role play preschool activities are activating experiences for teaching core competencies that will follow children for life.

Preschools all over the planet recognize that children learn through role play, and that role play gives them a chance to be other characters and circumstances. Role play is an important aspect of preschool social, emotional, problem-solving skill and self-confidence development. Parents and Educators can help children learn through pretending through the encouragement and creation of safe and imaginative opportunities for pretend play at home and in school.

The Benefits of Role Play for Preschoolers

Emotional Development

Children are able to express emotions, or act out of situation, during role play (e.g., visiting the doctor).

They are able to cope with fears (e.g., pretending to have an injection, lowers anxiety about the real thing).

Social Skills

In a group role play, children negotiate roles (e.g., “You can be the doctor, I will be the nurse”).

They learn to cooperate, share, and resolve unexpected problems during pretend play.

Management or Decision-Making

As a “shopkeeper” child may have to “fix a price,” or “count money.”

A superhero may have to “rescue a friend”.

These scenarios encourage swift decision-making.

Lifelong Learning

The long-term benefits of role play go with our children into adulthood. Skills such as confidence in speaking, decision-making, leadership, and teamwork are often rooted in early pretend games.

Life Skills for Preschoolers Established Through Role Play

Role play prepares preschoolers for future situations, but it is not just fun and games. It prepares them by actively developing real future life skills.

Communication & Language

Children can practice new words, practice their sentence formation, and create stories by pretending to be a variety of characters.

Empathy & Understanding 

When children play they are in the role of a parent, teacher or doctor and are learning to experience life through another person’s eyes which helps Preschool educators promote and support teaching life skills.

Self-Care & Daily Routines

Children role play are able to pretend to learn daily life habits/resources that carry over to real life –

• Cooking
• Shopping/ grocery shopping
• Cleaning
• Making care of another being.
• Leadership and Teamwork

Another great aspect of play is children are often in step to do roles and lead the group play, which builds leadership and negotiation skills.

Learning through Role Play: Examples

Home Corner Play

Children pretend to cook, clean or care for a doll. In this way, children are making meaning of household chores and family roles.

Medical Center

Kids play the roles of doctors, nurses, or patients, using items such as the toy stethoscope or bandage. This type of play helps them to tackle anxieties while visiting the doctor and gives them comfort to talk through their experiences.

Market or Shop Role Play

Children participate in pretend play using fake money to buy and sell items, allowing for exposure to math skills and problems solving, social interactions and negotiation skills.

Schools Play

Children act as teachers and students during play, reinforcing classroom routines and developing leadership skills with peers. 

Role play ideas in preschool not only promote imagination development, but they prepare children for real-world experiences. 

Related Topic: How Pretend Play Teaches Kids to Solve Problems?

Pretend Play Activities for Preschool Teachers to Try

Puppet Shows

Puppets give children the opportunity to act out different scenarios, build stories and explore their feelings with safety. 

Dress-Up Days

Giving children costumes to dress-up in— like a firefighter, chef and community helpers, encourages children to step into a pretend role. 

Story Re-Enactments

When children can retell their favorite stories through acting them out as a group or pairs, they are reinforcing literacy learning opportunities while contributing to comprehension. 

Role Play Corners

Having designated spaces in the classroom, like “kitchen corners”, “mini-hospitals”, “airports”, etc. which offer children to learn through play or role play experience and develop their engagement in the classroom. 

Role Play and Social Development in Preschool

Collaboration

Roleplaying is an activity involving a group working in collaboration. Children will take turns and assign roles to each other in order to work collaboratively toward a shared aim. 

Compromise/Negotiation Skills 

If a child wants to be a “doctor” and another child wants to be the “doctor” then the children need to either compromise or take turns being the “doctor”. 

Following the Rules of Play

Roleplay is often mimicking a real life play scenario that has established rules and expectations related to the rules of play. For example, if a child is playing teacher in the classroom, the teacher sets the rules and everyone must follow the teacher. 

Overall, role-play is a fun and meaningful activity geared towards preschool social development.

Related Topic: Why Play-Based Learning is More Effective Than Traditional Teaching?

Preschool Role Play Ideas for Teachers and Parents 

Theme	Skills Learned	Materials Needed
Kitchen Play	Responsibility, self-help, teamwork	Toy utensils, plastic food
Doctor’s Clinic	Empathy, caring, awareness of health issues	Toy stethoscope, bandage, thermometer
Market or Shop	Simple and functional math skills, negotiation skills, social interaction skills	Fake money, baskets, items
Fire Station	Awareness of safety, quick thinking, decision making	Firefighter hat, toy hose
Classroom Role Play	Leadership skills, understanding of authority, respect of authority, understanding routine	Blackboard or empty cardboard box, chalk, and books

These ideas can be blended together, providing children with opportunities to act out several professions and scenarios in a normal, everyday preschool life.

How Parents and Teachers can help develop life skills in Preschool ?

Role of Teacher   

• Set up existing role play corners in their classroom.
• Sourcing a variety of costumes and props can bring a more disorderly feeling to support a child’s imagination!
• Encourage joint play, act your role as an important member of the group, and support children in joining in and working with one another.

Role of Parents 

• Support pretend play your preschool children are doing at home.
• Provide pretend play using “real” items (pots, old cell phones, shopping bags).
• Interact and explore pretend play together and model appropriate behaviors of social interaction with others. 

Both elements of teacher support for role-play and parent support of role-play allows children to have continuity of experience supercharging their preschool life skills development.

Challenges of Role-Play and How to Overcome Them 

Lack of Props Supplies and Equipment 

There are not many early childhood education programs with props or costumes for children to play in. Teachers are encouraged to use creativity by recycling and inspiring children’s imagination. 

Shyness in Children 

Shy children will be hesitant to stand up and speak. Parents and teachers can provide gentle encouragement and allow for group role-play to promote children’s ease and familiarity while building social skills. 

Over-Competition 

Many times children will argue about whose turn it is in the role-play prop. Teachers should help promote turn-taking and responsibility-sharing for the prop (i.e. a doctor carrying the doctor’s bag to the doctor’s reception area with a doctor in the waiting room). 

The Benefits of Learning through Role Play 

Confidence in Language and Communication 

Children are articulate, confident, and clear in their verbal expressiveness during involvement in role-play moments.

Problem Solving Skills 

Role-play helps children to be adaptable and flexible resourceful thinkers.

Empathy and social skills

Children demonstrate respect, compassion towards others, and have the opportunity to learn with and about others. 

Independence and Leadership 

Children are responsible for the decisions they make acting out roles during role-play.

All these experiences ensure children take their learning from role-play to school and beyond. 

Related Topic: Developing Social Skills in Preschool Children

Conclusion

Role-play is so much more than just “playing pretend”. It is an intricate and rich educational way of addressing the life skills preschool educators are engaged in delivering and relationships with adults, peers, and young children. The outcomes when children are engaged in language skills development, problem-solving, cooperating and working in groups, or practicing empathy through role-play are innumerable.

By providing preschool role-play ideas for shops, clinics, or classrooms, teachers and parents have illustrated how to foster creativity and thinking to build on and develop some of the foundation life skills. Even more significantly, play allows preschoolers to engage in social and behavioral experiences in order to develop strategies to give them comfort and security for real-world challenges. So the next time your child is wandering the house in a cape with a toy phone, or is standing in front of their class as a teacher, just remember – they are not just playing, they are learning the fundamentals to life!