Imitative Play Promotes Empathy And Socialization
The game is the main tool through which children discover the world and learn to function in it. And, during the first years of life, it is mostly imitative play that fulfills this function. Many mothers use it instinctively with their children, without knowing for sure the great benefits that these small gestures bring to the baby’s psychological growth.
After all, the from the imitation, children develop cognitively, begin to socialize and reinforce their empathic ability. And all this happens naturally, from daily interactions with parents and through games, books or music that are part of everyday life.
The imitative game and socialization
The socializing function of imitative play begins very early in the baby’s life. When he babbles a sound and the mother repeats it, communication begins to be established.
Later, it will be the child who will start repeating sounds and gestures observed in the closest beings. Through social reinforcement (smiles, compliments, caresses), parents shape the child’s imitation, which will consolidate these abilities.
This gives the first words and simple gestures, such as clapping or indicating with your fingers the age they are about to reach. In this way, the foundations of social communication are laid even before the little one can use words and phrases.
Initially, the child’s imitation will be motivated by the desire to attract the attention of adults, even without really knowing what the sounds or gestures it produces mean. Later, however, she will begin to assign meaning to them and use them in a functional way.
Environment operation
The imitative game also helps the little one to know the world around him, to discover how objects work and to acquire habits and daily sequences. For example, at first, the little one can brush his hair when he sees his mother doing it, he can dust off while his father is cleaning, or he can pick up the phone and pretend he is talking.
Imitation, which in the beginning was produced simultaneously (the mother does and the baby repeats), starts to be generated in retrospect. That is, the child can start imitating words or actions that he observed at some point in the past, without the need for them to be produced by an adult at that exact moment.
Thus, the child is more likely to imitate the sequences that are most familiar to him. That way, she can pretend she’s cooking, changing her doll’s diaper, or brushing her teeth. Through this game, she starts to internalize the use of objects and the establishment of daily habits.
The imitative game promotes empathy
But, in addition, the imitative game also helps the child to begin to develop the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others and to understand different emotional states. This can be achieved through simple games, such as pointing out the characters in a book and imitating their expressions as we read with the child.
Children’s songs can also help us if they are accompanied by gestures that accompany the lyrics. For example, clenching your fists and rubbing your eyes when the song talks about crying.
We can promote this acquisition by showing the child various emotional bodily expressions and asking him to repeat them. However, it is important to accompany this imitation with arguments and explanations that help the child to understand the correspondence. Children’s books, such as The Color Monster, can be very helpful in this task.
How to use imitative play with children?
Imitative play occurs naturally and instinctively between children and adults around them. However, if we want to promote its benefits, there are certain actions that we can pay special attention to.
Above all, it is important to involve the little one in everyday tasks and allow him to collaborate. For example, giving us a cloth to “clean” the table with us, offering an empty pot with a spoon to “help” us cook… Getting the child to participate in daily tasks will allow him to, through imitation, develop many of his capabilities.
