Halloween doesn’t have to be all about candy and costumes.  It can be creative fun, full of imagination and role-playing.  What child doesn’t like to create his or her own creature or play in a new world with puppets?  What about exploring and making your own slime or other fun science-related products?

WonderBrains has pulled together an amazing line of products geared towards promoting the fun and educational side of the season.  Let children explore their imaginative side with puppets, from wizards to doctors, princesses to chefs.  Or, for the older group, invest in a science lab kit to make gooey concoctions, play foam (that glows in the dark!) and slime.  Little kids will enjoy the bumblebee hand puppet and the lightning bug flashlights.  And, for kids of all ages, check out the make-a-mask kit!  Kids can create their own mask for trick-or-treating!

Halloween doesn’t have to be all about the chocolate and the lollipops.  Find a few things that will tantalize their creative side as well!

WonderBrains is offering a 10% discount on their Halloween toys and products!  Visit the online store, and use 10SPOOKY at checkout for your discount!

I spend three days a week with a class of twelve children, ages four and five years old.  As one of my boys was leaving the class to go home with his mom last week, I overheard her ask her son, “How was your day today?”  Her son replied, “Great!  All we did was play today!”

Playing is one of the most beneficial gifts we can give our children.  While we may look at play as simply the “surface value” of what we see, play is much more than that.  Playing carries with it an amazing number of benefits and learning development strategies which children need later on to help them on their journey of learning.

First of all, playing builds coordination.  Children are more apt to take greater risks when playing, simply because they are taking on the persona of someone or something else when they play (most of the time).  While a child might be too timid to run and leap on their own, they might become the most agile gorrilla when playing in their make-believe jungle.  Playing allows children to try new skills out without feeling pressured or threatened.  There are no expectations when playing, only the imagination and the child dictate what will happen. 

Speaking of the imagination, playing is a huge tool in building imaginations.  Children who can imagine and create will more easily be able to hone in on higher order thinking skills and problem solving skills as they grow.  Children can learn to solve problems in a non-threatening environment.  While playing, children can create their own situations and devise solutions to their problems.

Playing also fosters good social skills among children.  By playing in a positive way with peers, children learn how to appropriately treat others and how they like to be treated as well.  Children realize in a positive environment that good manners and nice words will carry them far in life, moreso than bossy, critical behavior.  Playtime is an excellent opportunity for children to learn social skills that will stay with them forever.

The mom of the child mentioned in the beginning winked at me as she walked out the door to her car.  She knows the power of play and the important skills playtime addresses for children.  Play isn’t just for fun; it is a powerful tool in learning life’s lessons.

My nine year-old came bounding into the living room yesterday, weilding an unsharpened pencil and wearing his Harry Potter robe from last Halloween.  “To your feet ye scallion and walk the plank or fix me snack…please!”  I jumped to my feet, swooped into a low bow and said, “Please, my Lord, spare me the murky waters of the unknown and I shall prepare a lovely plate of apples and caramel dip to your liking…and thank you for using ‘please’ when you asked!”

To say it is never a dull moment in our house is an understatement.  One moment I’m the queen of the castle, signing papers and watching magic shows.  The next minute I’m the proud owner of a 3 year-old ‘puppy’ that looks strikingly like my younger son.  Pretend play is probably the most important aspect of development for children at any age.

Pretend play lends itself well into so many developmental areas.  Most notably, pretend play allows children to practice real-life scenarios.  We can be Best Friends and have a disagreement that we work out.  We can meet a stranger in a store and work on how to handle that situation.  We have even pretended that our house was in danger (fire, flood, even dragons once in the chimney!) and worked out how to handle it.  Pretend play is a safe way to explore those “scary” things in a child’s life while still having the comfort of it only being pretend.  Children can solve problems that they may encounter in a safe and nurturing way.  And, it opens the door to great discussions between adults and children.

Pretend play is also great for improving and enhancing vocabulary skills.  Oral communication is a key component to language development at any age, so utilizing dialogue in pretend play only enhances those skills.  While younger children benefit in obvious strides from conversational pretend play, older children also learn to use difficult and new words in context while still being in a “safe” environment.

Children who actively engage in pretend play tend to have better social skills as well.  Putting themselves in self-created situations gives the children a chance to learn to appropriately interact with peers and others.  They can work on manners and correct behavior while still having a great deal of fun.

An important part of pretend play, for adults, is to join in if the child will let you or wants you.  The interaction with a child engaging in pretend play can open the doors to deeper discussions about problems – with friends, in school, or just in life in general.  Use pretend play with puppets or stuffed animals to encourage a child to open up and share something that may be bothering him or her.  Sometimes, children can communicate better in third person than speaking on a more personal level; just remember to be open and non-threatening as well as non-judgemental.

We were on our way home from our restaurant of choice (because they have an indoor play yard) with the kids one night, when our 2 year old son started shouting in a desperate voice, “DAD!  DAD!!!!”  Our immediate response was to find out what was so distressing that warranted a call reserved only for blood-related injuries.

As it turns out, the kids’ meal toys were being put to good use as pretend play was abounding in the back seat.  My husband and I were reproached for interrupting the “show”.  And, once we squared away that we were, indeed, not needed at the moment and could continue the drive home, all was right in the back seat again.

Pretend Play is one of the benchmarks of toddlerhood.  For their entire lives up until this point, children focus mainly on how toys work and how they feel/taste/smell/sound/look.  But, somewhere around the time that language acquisition explodes and children discover their vocal capabilities, they find that they can CREATE voice.  They can create many voices.  And, they can manipulate the course of events in a new world called imagination.

The thought processes involved in engaging in pretend play are phenomenal.  Not only is the child creating a character in their mind, but they are transferring that mental information into concrete action.  Many of these scenarios stem from real-life events or what they experience through external stimulation (books, TV, plays, even people-watching in a park). Sometimes, though, they are completely created off the cuff by the child.

How amazing it is to remember a few months ago where our child was happy to bang his belongings into the back seat window, leaving us with the fear of losing the window – and now?  Now he’s creating his own little world with his own mind, learning how the real world works and how things interact with each other.  He can safely try out newly acquired words and phrases.  And, he is using higher-order thinking by representing one concept with an object.

Next time you “catch” your child in one of these imaginary worlds, step back and watch the wonder of the human brain at work.  Pretending is definitely more than its cracked up to be!