t, thoughtfulness, understanding), less negative emotion (selfishness, need for attention, anger) and score higher on tests of emotional regulation and emotional understanding (Lindsey & Colwell 2013). Overall, sociodramatic play can improve a child’s emotional development from a very young age and lead to healthier emotional relationships later in life.
Parents and educators can help children learn general information about the world through pretend play. Pretending a rock is a shark and having it eat leaves that symbolize fish will allow children to understand that sharks eat fish, even though they may have never seen a shark or a fish in person. Children can interpret this information as young as age 2 without explicit instructions or intentions (Sutherland & Friedman, 2012).
Plausible versus implausible play. Even at 3-5 years of age children can already filter out what contradicts previous knowledge about a subject and recognize that this new information is unrealistic (Sutherland & Friedman, 2013). Children are more likely to gather information from plausible pretend play (sociodramatic play) than fantastical pretend play because plausible play is imitation of plausible situations (playing house, playing doctor, etc). During implausible play, for example children pretending they can fly (fantasy play), less information is transferred into their assumptions about reality and less information is stored for later comparisons. If parents are still worried about inexperienced young children distinguishing between plausible and implausible reality, they can pretend in ways that show implausibility, like speaking in a humorous way (using silly voices, laughing a lot, saying “isn’t this silly?”). These can aid in a child’s differentiation between fantasy and reality and can make them feel safe during pretend play.
Imaginary companions are part of pretend play. Sometimes children have imaginary friends and adults might wonder whether it is good or not. It turns out that children who have imaginary companions show a higher level of creativity at a young age (Hoff, 2005).2 Additionally, adults who recall having an imaginary companion as a child outperform those who do not outperform those on creativity tests (Kidd, 2005).3
Parents and teachers have no reason to fear pretend play in young children. This type of play benefits all areas of a child’s development and gives a child tools for experiences later in life such as emotional regulation, creativity, and logical reasoning. Join in children’s pretend play to help guide their storyline, but allow children to expand their knowledge of the world around them by playing “make believe.”
 The Affective Social Competence scale (ASC) was used for measuring a child’s social adjustment. Its three indexes include: sending affective messages, receiving affective messages, and experiencing affect.
2Tests used included the Activity Questionnaire, designed to measure the correlation between
creative activities and having imaginary friends, and the Unusual Uses Test, which measures fluency of ideas (Hoff, 2005).
3 The Gough Creative Personality Scale was used for measurement, and adults who reported having imaginary companions as a child had a higher mean score.
Lindsey, E., & Colwell, M. (2013). Pretend and phyiscal play: links to preschoolers' affective social competence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 59(3), 330-360. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.library.nd.edu/journals/merrill-palmer_quarterly/v059/59.3.lindsey.html
Sutherland, S., & Friedman , O. (2013). Just pretending can be really learning: children use pretend play as a source for acquiring generic knowledge. Developmental Psychology , 49(9), 1660-1668. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.nd.edu/ehost/detail?sid=1b73336b-6c51-4dc8-a408-8fcbfd153531@sessionmgr4004&vid=1&hid=4107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==
Rakoczy, H. (2006). Pretend play and the development of collective intentionality. Cognitive Systems Research, 7(2), 113-127. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.library.nd.edu/science/arti