• College Home
• About Metro State
• Academics
• Admissions
• Campus Life
• Technology
• Athletics
• Library

Information for Parents

Children 5 and beyond.

Five-year-old children should be able to create and act out elaborate make-believe scenarios on their own or with other children. At this point, you are really more of a resource, providing ideas as a way of helping children get things going.  You should not have to demonstrate or be a part of the play as you did before.  However, if you notice that your 5-year-old cannot play in a mature way with roles and themes, don’t feel discouraged--just use some of the suggestions above. Practice makes perfect!

• Encourage children to play by having props available and materials that they can use to make their own props.  Children will be able to make a pretend scene choosing props on their own.  Blocks, pieces of fabric, blankets, paper, scissors, and glue are all things that children can turn into anything from a costume to a construction site to a space station to Cinderella.

• Children will begin to play more with little dolls and action figures instead of dressing up and playing the role themselves. Engage in “director’s play” where they talk and act for the figures, playing several roles and changing their voices for each of the actors.  Things can get pretty complicated with a long period of discussion of who is doing what and when, followed by the acting out of the scene that was just planned.  Lego toy sets (with people) and dollhouses encourage this kind of play.  Children will want to own a theme set, which helps in the play, but you should also encourage them to add pieces from other sets to encourage their creativity and flexibility.

• Use stories and literature as a basis for play. Encourage children to make their own versions of familiar stories, or completely new stories, and act these out.

• Play games with rules.  Board games and simple card games (Go Fish) are all extensions of mature make-believe play.

• If you are lucky enough to have several children, take advantage of the gift!  You will have to help the 5- and 6-year-olds learn to teach their younger sibling what to do and say, especially if the sibling is under 3 years old.  Help the older child invent a simple role for the 3-year-old.  Model how the older sibling can define who is going to do what and then help the younger child play along.  Before you know it, you’ll have a situation in which the play of both children is enhanced.