After two years, many children develop the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others in their games and imagine that they are them. They are not yet able to imagine how others would feel, but they do imagine that they are, playing, other people, characters or animals.
Many children will begin to say: "Yo, Mickey" or "Yo, papa" or "Yo, Juan", because they like Mickey, miss dad or remember his friend Juan, and want to think that they live their adventures or They have them nearby. Parents participated in this game by talking to them as if they were those other people, and inventing adventures.
The imagination is incredible at those ages, and we can explore a jungle, work as dad would or play in the snow with Juan. We can accompany you in these games by inventing any adventure, entering your world and making them who you want to imagine.
Normally there is an object that makes them "put themselves in the skin" of the other: if he takes dad's shoes, a mother's garment, Mickey's doll, Dora the Explorer's backpack ...
My oldest daughter lately is all those characters and of course, she also “becomes” a baby, not only her little sister, but other babies of her favorite characters like Rosi, Caillou's sister (she also becomes Caillou often ), or "give us scares" becoming the ghost of the kitchen that hides behind the high chair.
Sometimes, he even assigns us another role: “You Minie”, “You yaya”… What he still has trouble understanding and doesn't like is that I put myself in his place and imitate her or a baby. I think he already has enough with his baby sister at home.
Another variety of imitations are animals: as they increase in their ability to vocalize and movements they are able to imitate animals with increasing success. Of course, you have to be careful because any object becomes a bone that the puppy has in his mouth ...
Playing without toys
Of course, "physical" toys are still among their favorite entertainments, but any object that does not pose a danger to them can become a toy, and they do so with great success. Hence, care must be taken not to leave dangerous objects at your fingertips, because the eagerness to explore and discover that magic of turning everything into a game thanks to imagination.
Even after two years, many children begin to be able to imagine that they eat from an imaginary plate, that they cradle an imaginary baby, that they enter an imaginary little house ... Imagine what space saving! Everything you need to play and have fun is in your imagination.
While learning to imitate other people, they are also able to fake moods or physical in the sense of play: now I am sad, now I am tired, now I am angry, now I get scared, now I have pain and I want the doctor to give syrup with a fork ...
It is at this age that the child begins to have fun in the company of other children, although they limit themselves to observing or imitating the game of others and will hardly do it collaboratively with children of the same age, which usually comes from three years.
From the age of 3, the child begins to interact with friends, wants to share their games with them and the roles are distributed.
Meanwhile, it is your parents who "understand" this beautiful way to play being others and we can enjoy it together and encourage them to become who they want to be. The important thing is that, while they play, they learn and have fun, and we with them.
