What do you think the purpose of pretend-play is in childhood? Beyond just "having fun", why specifically do you think children enjoy engaging in projects of fantasy removed from the world-as-it-is?
I know that the typical wisdom is that children play to learn, to practice skills, to use up energy, and to exercise their bodies. I know that experts say that play is necessary for kids to develop. And I don't doubt any of that.
But, I don't really see why that is different from adults. When I see kids play, I see them working on tasks that they enjoy and that they want to master. Adults do that, but we call it work. I see them using their imaginations to create and to enjoy other kid's creations. Adults do that, using art and theater and storytelling.
I'm not sure of this, but here is what I think might be true. When adults pursue values, we see it as work or hobbies or a social life. When kids pursue values, we see it as play. Seems to me that value pursuit, including using our imaginations, our bodies, our minds, is a human characteristic, and when children do it, it is labeled as play.
So I would say that instead of thinking of play as a means to an end, I would think of it as the end. We live to pursue values that make us happy. Perhaps children too? We all learn through that value pursuit.
As for imaginative play in particular, I think kids (and adults) use it in many ways. It's fun. That's why Livy pretends to be a dog and why I imagine that I am in the Amazon when I am walking in the conservatory at the Botanical Gardens. It can be a way to work out problems. Livy and I both use our imaginations to think about the future and what we want to do in it. She does more physical acting out of her ideas about the future, but I think about what it will be like to teach in a college all the time. We both fantasize about things we wish we could have and about situations we wish would be different. Sometimes those fantasies are possible, and we put them into action. We both use fantasy to escape from routine. We both like art for this (movies for her, books and movies for me). Fantasy is a way to practice skills.
Perhaps children use imaginative play in some different ways than adults that I haven't thought of, but so far, the only differences I can see is that children are more physical (they act out instead of just imagining) and they are generally less repressed and excited about what the future holds, so they use fantasy and pretending and other kinds of play more often. Though, perhaps because their fantasy play is more visible because it is physically acted out, it just seems that they fantasize more.
What do you think?
