Pretend Play

When all of the cousins get together they do this massive pretend play. 18 cousins were there for the week.  I was surprised at how many different businesses they ran.

The first night they ran a hotel.  They had front desk clerks in Grandma’s computer room.  There was tapping on the keyboard and spreadsheets on the computer screens.  Post it notes were filled with info for each client. Secretaries were on the phone talking with people.  I think all of the adults and teenagers went down checking into rooms from the pretend hotel.  Ryan even checked out the honeymoon suite in the hotel.  :)

Then came the hairdressers.  Some were a little more gentle on the scalps than others.  Grandma LOVES for her hair to be brushed.  I was surprised at some of the hairdos that came out of the shop.

Then one afternoon Aunt Kristy set up a car wash with all of the kids.  She had the cars and vans all lined up on mom’s lawn.  The little ones were WAYYY into their “Sparkle Car Wash”.  Kristy is so good to detail cars and vans.

They also had secret agent offices set up in grandpa’s shed and would hold secret club meetings.  Secret notes were passed and secret treats were eaten in the secret club office.

Grandma has  a lot of plastic and ceramic animals in her greenhouse.  Mix those with her live turtle, cat, kitten, the dogs and that makes for plenty of play with veterinarian and pet store.  Those kids drug all of those animals all around the yard that I thought they were playing zoo at times.

 

I was asking the kids tonight about all of the pretend play to make sure I got everything.  One of them piped up and said they played Doctor too.  I didn’t follow up on that one…. maybe I should have!

Pretend play is so fun and important for kids.  Just a few props and they are off and running with a scenario. 

My favorite is seeing their faces light up as adults or teenage cousins come to join in.