Ages & Stages: Imagine & Pretend | Scholastic
Sarah drinks from her bottle while cradled in the arms of her attentive caregiver. At two months, she looks up and begins to imitate the caregiver's silly faces - eyebrows up and mouth wide open. Several months later, when she is a toddler, Sarah reenacts these loving experiences, holding her doll carefully in her arms and pretending to feed it.
Infants have an amazing ability to imitate the facial expressions and gestures of the people around them. And they have well-developed memories that enable them to remember a lot of what they see, feel, and hear. These imitation games and warm memories help to lay the groundwork for the imaginative pretend play of the toddler years.
Real-Life Symbols
By the age of 12 to 14 months, most toddlers begin to use toys in specific and appropriate ways. One-year-old Tommy knows - most of the time, anyway - that the ball is for throwing and the toy car is for pushing. Within six months, symbolic play begins, and Tommy starts to use blocks to build garages for his toy cars.
Around his second birthday, Tommy squeals excitedly, "Daddy, baby, go, go!" as he puts two fingers in the toy car and pushes it around the table. He's using his imagination to understand real events in his life - such as being driven to the store by his father and to express his memories. Tommy's stories are simple and based on his own experiences, but he is developing the ability to create and tell stories using characters, action, and setting.
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