What effect does role play have on children?

Role play is important for the development of children’s social skills. You see your world with different eyes. When they dress up, they put themselves in the shoes of others and thus train empathy. With role-playing games, children also learn to solve internal and external conflicts in crèches/nurseries, elementary schools and after-school care centres by playing them out beforehand. Role-playing games also train creativity and language skills and thus have a positive effect on children’s intelligence. 

How do children create role-playing games?

Free role-playing games give children the opportunity to live out their imagination and creativity. In addition to free role-playing games, there are also guided role-playing games. Here children play a fairy tale or a story or fill a given situation with life. Role-playing games can be used to specifically promote skills or address topics. Guided role-playing games are particularly suitable for shy children. It encourages them to talk about their experiences. 

How do you create favourable conditions for role-playing games?

Children can actually slip into other roles without toys. But a stimulating environment gives them a variety of ideas for creating their own stories and role-playing games. Props stimulate creativity and thus create ideas for new role-playing games. A disguise makes it easier for children to start role-playing, especially when the children slip into professions such as doctor or firefighter in crèche, kindergarten, day-care centre, elementary school and after-school care centre. Play furniture such as a play kitchen or an Indian tent are also starting points for your own stories and role-playing games. Dolls and cuddly toys are also among the props for children’s role-playing games. They help children express their feelings by transferring them to the dolls. You can process experiences while playing.