The Power of Role Play for Toddlers
It’s that time of year when colds, bugs, and viruses plague us. I love to help my family deal with these by making immune-boosting smoothies. It makes me feel like I’m putting something inside my body that it will thank me for. These past few weeks however it has been an absolute pleasure to make these alongside my 20-month-old. She has watched with fascination from a very young age and has now progressed to being able to make smoothies with very little assistance. I stand and observe and help if and when she needs it but she has gained so much confidence, creativity, and self-pride from having the freedom to explore and be creative with this process. I love being able to teach her to nourish her body and I adore watching her uninhibited creativity. Sure why not put an olive in your smoothie? Every smoothie she makes she says is delicious and I love that self-confidence.
This has however turned into a mini activity obsession (we all know how much toddlers love repetition) and given the choice, our home would be a 24/7smoothie making facility. So I was delighted when we recently received a smoothie maker in our toy subscription box and it has been a firm favorite. Having familiarity within a play scenario allows children to let go a little and process things they are witnessing. This is the reason that so many toddlers and children play ‘house’, it’s their whole world and through role-play, they can make sense of it. The toy smoothie maker has increased her ability to engage in some independent play in a scenario where she already feels confident. The set came with a wooden knife and fruit that can be chopped into pieces, a cup, a straw, and a milk carton. Every single one of our stuffed animals and any guest that comes to our house has received one of my little girl’s creations. We have added our own handmade toy cartons of things relevant to our household such as peanut butter, bone broth, and a shaker with rice for the ‘seeds'. Once my daughter has added everything she deems necessary to the smoothie (having practiced a huge variety of fine motor skills in the process) she confidently turns the dial to mix it up and pours it into her cups adds a straw and exclaims with wild enthusiasm “yum yum” “‘licious” and “cheers”. The set has been a catalyst for language development and I have been impressed with the breadth of vocabulary the play scenario has sparked.
During these formative years, toddlers are developing an understanding of themselves and their world in relation to others. They are processing that they can be different and still connected at the same time, the beginnings of a healthy sense of self and understanding of her separateness as an individual. For example “Daddy likes banana in his smoothie, but Maya likes strawberries” - this was repeated for an entire day as she made sense of it “Daddy nana (banana), me strawberry” and then extended to “teddy boobree (blueberry), lion apple” as she reenacted her understanding of difference. Perhaps these exchanges seem small and insignificant to the adult but the cognitive development within the scenario above is tremendous and it is within these safe play scenarios that she is making sense of the world and finding her place in it.
Sometimes role-play toys can be a bit of a flop and they do need to have a link to the child’s world in order to be fully utilized, but the smoothie maker has been a captivating hit that I think would be a great addition to any toddlers toy box.
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