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A young child exploring imagination with toys

Inspiring Imagination with Pretend Play

The beauty of pretend play is that your child is only limited by what he can imagine. Learning takes on a whole new dimension, as you can now teach him to draw from his imagination, harness his creativity and put himself in the shoes of anyone he wants, hence taking his first step towards empathy.

The best part is, pretend play can happen any time, anywhere, and with whatever you can get your child’s hands on.


Here’s where you can also incorporate improvisation and problem-solving, and encourage appropriate behaviours and correct inappropriate ones. Ready to begin? Here are 3 fun scenarios to inspire you, but feel free to let your imagination take the lead.


Playing along with everyday objects


The Little Explorer

A child pretending to look through a telescope with a toilet roll

Get your exploratory mode on with 2 toilet rolls as your binoculars and the sofa as your vessel. Need more excitement? Hide a ‘treasure’ within the house and get your child to go on a fun little hunt!


Burger Restaurant

A girl playing with dolls and pretending to run a burger restaurant

Start your very own burger restaurant, and line up the soft toys as your little customers. Make pretend burgers using coasters, and serve them up! You can even introduce the idea of payment using small toy bricks as currency.


Into the Wild

A father and his children in a home tent pretending to camp out in the wild

Pitch a home tent with 2 chairs and a blanket and imagine yourselves camping out in the wild. Use torches to create a campfire, and spark his imagination about what’s outside the tent. Add to the fun by playing animal sounds!!

Once your child gets used to the idea of pretend play, you can
dream up even more creative scenarios. Here’s one about the zoo.

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A child is playing super hero flying game with father

We Can All Be Heroes

“Role-modelling is one of the most powerful tools that parents can use to transfer good manners and the proper values to our children. A good role model helps influence and shape children’s behaviour and decisions in relating to others as their world extends beyond the home, teachers and other persons in the community, including celebrities and characters on media.” - Dr Georgina Gozo-Oliver Child Psychiatrist