En un momento, su niño es un astronauta. En otro, ¡es el cohete en persona! Así de rápidamente el niño cambia de papel en el juego, y pasa de "actor" a "director", acomodando las figuras en el espacio sideral. El niño ha entrado en una etapa pico en el juego de las representaciones que ayudan a preparar a las mentes jóvenes para la comprensión en la lectura y el pensamiento creativo. He aquí algunos consejos para ayudar a alimentar la imaginación del niño.
When you provide toys with realistic, representational features, you give your child needed hints and cues for "jumping off" into imaginative play. Familiar settingsa doll house, play tent, camper or garagehelp children move naturally from imitation to reinvented experience to totally imagined events. More fanciful settings, like castles or pirate ships, inspire action play that preschoolers enjoy even though they don't see knights or pirates in real life. By play acting characters, children transfer themselves into another era and begin to understand history. Playsets provide the stage for your child's imaginative thinking to soar.
From a campsite in the living room, your child "hears" owls and crickets and pretends to roast marshmallows. What looks like fun is also a great accomplishment. Now your child has the power to change the immediate environment just by thinking. Through imaginative play, children picture in their minds what's happened or what could happen. Not surprisingly, this kind of play uses the same parts of the brain used in reading comprehension, the ability to understand and imagine what words represent. The experience of make-believe, fostered by a play environment you can provide, helps prepare your child's mind for comprehension, an important element in reading.
At three and four, your child will probably still act out everyday life, but he or she may now also add make-believe scenes. Accompanied by his or her faithful robotic dog, your child will embark on wonderful, imagination-filled adventures. And, because preschoolers are beginning to want to play with other children, your child may have begun to include others in imaginative play. By providing role-play props or toys with figures and vehicles, you give children something to talk about or to play act together, helping initiate their early attempts at social interaction. Imaginative play opens up new avenues of social interaction.
Ejemplos de juguetes que estimulan la imaginación de los niños de tres y cuatro años: