Today Dahlia, Kai, and Harper went to the block area for their appointment. Using the strategy of creating a blue print for their building idea, they agreed to build a “kitty house that turns into a sky scraper”.
Dahlia: The kitty house has to be super big.
Harper: We are going to be the kitties.
Dahlia: Pretend I was the mama kitty.
Harper: I’m the big sister kitty.
Dahlia: Let’s go inside the house.
Kai: It’s a sliding door. Here I’ll open the door. Welcome into the house, people!
Symbolic. Children are able to test out roles, feelings, behaviors, and relationships, replay things that have already happened in order to make sense of them. Symbolic play may just look like pretending, but it is actually laying the foundation for an understanding of themselves and the larger world.
As stated in the articles from the Michigan State University Extension, Dahlia, and Harper are implementing the characteristics of symbolic play by the role play they each choose. Then Kai also pretends the quad block is a sliding door inviting the “people” to walk inside it. These type of social exchanges develop through practice and trust in relationships. These children have had previous experiences with each other and have been in the building space before. We as teachers seek out social interactions that enable the play to build up constructively. -Teacher Flora