The Importance of dragon costume in Your Family Unit: A blog about the health benefits of playing pretend.
We all know that play is an important part of childhood, but many parents don\u2019t understand why. Yes, it\u2019s fun for kids to dress up as pirate princesses and climb tree forts for hours, but what does it really do for them? The truth is that play has many important developmental benefits. Here are just a few:
1) Play teaches kids to be creative
2) Play encourages empathy
3) Play helps develop language skills
4) Play helps kids learn how to take turns (and thus avoid the dreaded tantrum!)
5) Play encourages kids to think critically about the world around them
6) Play lets kids express their emotions and work through their feelings
7) Play lets kids explore their identity and try out different roles in life
The Importance of Your Family Unit: A blog about the health benefits of playing pretend.
If your child has a dragon costume, they will probably want to put it on and chase you around the house. I encourage this behavior. In fact, I encourage you to run from your dragon-costumed child and scream as if terrified. You may be surprised by how much fun this is for both of you.
When children play pretend with their family, it strengthens the family unit. When a parent runs from a child dragon, the adult is telling their child that they are powerful and strong. This helps create self-confidence in young dragons and helps them develop more secure attachments to their parents later in life. This kind of positive interaction is crucial for children’s mental growth and well-being.
For your child to grow up healthy, they need to be physically active and also spend quality family time with you.
You can do both by playing pretend together.
While young children play pretend naturally, it is important to continue this activity throughout their childhood. Studies show a direct correlation between pretend play and childhood obesity. The more pretend your child plays, the healthier they will be.
Pretend games are simple, fun activities that encourage your child to move around and use their imagination. As a parent, you can lead the way by being a role model and guiding your child through the process of playing pretend.
Your family unit has a unique set of needs; there is no one-size-fits-all approach to pretending. Below are some suggestions for games you can play as a family that will encourage physical exercise and creativity.
Hide and Seek: This classic game works in any environment, from indoors to the backyard to the park! It’s easy for everyone in your family to learn the rules and make up variations on how to play. You can make it so that only certain people get to hide or have fun hiding places like under chairs or inside boxes or other pieces of furniture around your home or yard!
Superheroes: Superheroes
I never thought the day would come when I would have to write a blog post about the importance of dragons. Yet, here we are.
In the past, I have written about how pretending to be a dog can help children overcome their fear of dogs, and how pretending to be a rock can help children learn to sit still for longer periods of time.
But this time it’s different. This time it’s personal. For no one is closer to me than my daughter, who will turn three this June. And so it is with great sorrow that I must report that she has recently been diagnosed with an incurable disease called “Let’s Pretend We’re Not Playing Let’s Pretend.” She has become interested in watching television instead of playing pretend.
This is deeply troubling: there is no cure for “Let’s Pretend We’re Not Playing Let’s Pretend,” but every day, thousands of children are successfully treated through intensive pretend play therapy. And so I am asking you today to join me in my fight against this devastating disease!
How can you help? You can donate money or supplies, or volunteer your time by teaching pretend play therapy techniques to other children in your community. If you would like more information about where your donation will go and how
When I was little, my reality was always a little bit different than other people’s. My parents had divorced when I was 3 years old, and my father remarried quickly after, so I had two mothers. One was the “fun mom” and the other was the “real mom.” My father, who traveled a lot for work, was the “visitor,” and he would come to town to visit his family.
My real mother had a boyfriend named Steve who lived with us for about ten years. Steve was like a dad to me for most of my childhood — he even helped raise my younger sister who joined our family later on. He was also a writer and editor at an environmental magazine called Mother Earth News in Topeka, Kansas, where we lived. Because of this connection to the magazine, I became something of an environmentalist in elementary school and have maintained that interest over the course of my life.
My fun mom made up stories about dragons living in people’s refrigerators and told them to me at night before bed. She eventually made up a dragon who loved candy and sugar so much that he turned himself into a human boy just so he could eat it all the time. Her
Play is the way kids learn to negotiate. They practice and confront their fears, in a safe environment. They discover there are consequences for their actions, and gain empathy for others.
When you play with your child, you’re not just playing — you’re teaching and communicating values. You’re showing them how to be patient, how to share, how to be respectful.
Above all, play is a family-building exercise. It’s an opportunity to spend quality time with your children doing something they love.
It’s also healthy for you: studies have shown that playing with your kids improves your mood and reduces stress!