Dramatic Play & Imagination
Engaging in pretend play, role-playing, puppetry, and imaginative scenarios that develop narrative and social skills.
Examples & Achievements
- Engages in elaborate pretend play scenarios (restaurant, hospital, spaceship)
- Takes on and sustains a role during dramatic play
- Uses objects symbolically (block as phone, box as car)
- Collaborates with peers to develop a shared pretend scenario
- Creates and performs simple puppet shows or skits
- Distinguishes between real and pretend
How to Measure
- Sustains a pretend play role for 10+ minutes
- Engages in collaborative pretend play with 2+ peers
- Uses 3+ object substitutions in a single play episode
- Teaching Strategies GOLD Objective 14 (symbolic thought in play)
- Smilansky Scale of Dramatic and Sociodramatic Play
Sources (5)
- Vygotsky
- Waldorf
- Reggio Emilia
- EYFS
- OT Practice Framework