Kids A health and safety column from Children's Mercy of Kansas City, Mo. Imaginative play is a valuable aspect of development Caroline, age four, is running down the stairs in her house as fast as she can. She is Cinderella, leaving the ball as fast as she can because the clock is striking twelve. Caroline, like so many young children, loves to enter the world of make believe and imagine, or pretend play. From Cinderella to Cowboys and Indians, the creative world of imagination has several positive effects for both children.
Children use fantasy play to reenact life as they see it and to mimic adult actions.
Between the ages of three and six, children may begin to engage in imaginative play together, and create vivid scenarios using their relatively new verbal skills. Kids will assume all sorts of magical identities and roles at this stage, from action heroes to kings and queens. Pretend play can help a child understand important events in his or her life. Pretend play can help a child feel in control of their own world. In real life, parents decide when a child should eat, bathe and go to bed.