Pretend Play May Help Kids’ Mental Health

Dress-up games, toy tea parties and stuffed-animal emergencies may be doing more than keeping your toddler busy for 10 blessed minutes. A new study from the University of Sydney found that children who showed stronger pretend-play abilities at ages two to three went on to have fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties in early primary school.

The research, published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, looked at data from more than 1,400 Australian children. Researchers found that the link held even after accounting for other factors that shape child development, including family socioeconomic status, maternal mental health, language ability and the security of the parent-child relationship.

Pretend play can look ordinary: a toddler feeding a doll, turning couch cushions into a fort, or announcing that everyone in the living room is now a dinosaur veterinarian. But those made-up scenarios ask kids to do a lot at once. They have to imagine, switch roles, follow a storyline and respond to what happens next.

Over time, that kind of play may help children practise flexible thinking, emotional processing and social understanding. The study did not find that emotional regulation explained the whole link, which suggests other developmental processes may also be involved.

What counts as pretend play?

Pretend play usually involves a child using objects, actions or language to represent something else.

That can include:

• Pretending a banana is a phone
• Making stuffed animals talk to each other
• Acting out everyday routines like grocery shopping or bedtime
• Turning a cardboard box into a spaceship, train or house

It does not need to be elaborate, expensive, or Pinterest-ready to count.

What parents can do

Simple, child-led make-believe has value. A few ways to support it:

• Leave some open-ended toys or household objects within reach
• Let your child lead the game instead of correcting the “rules”
• Join in when invited, but don’t take over the plot
• Use open-ended prompts like “What happens next?” or “Who is this?”

If your child would rather serve invisible soup to a teddy bear than stack blocks “properly,” that is still productive play.

And if life has been heavy on schedules, screens and getting everyone out the door lately, this is a reassuring reminder: free imaginative play still counts. A blanket fort, a toy stroller and five silly made-up minutes can go a long way.

This article was crafted with the assistance of an AI language model. The final content was reviewed and edited by a human and reflects the editorial judgment and expertise of Today's Parent.