small world play
16 Apr 2022
On the weekend my daughter turned 4. She got a dolls house for her birthday and instantly got out all her dolls house furniture and started to play, adding in her Barbies, animal, and doll figurines to enhance the play. It was a hit, and she exclaimed “Mum its just what I wanted!”.
Small world play is a style of imaginative play which uses toys or props, encouraging children to use their imaginations and creativity. The best part all…? You can play by yourself, with a partner or in a group.
Small world play helps children to make sense of their world, where they are able to role play scenarios they are familiar with, or alternatively create make believe worlds. Children may choose to play out stories they have read such as Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, or make up their own fantasy stories using pirates or animal figurines.
Children can use all sorts of different toys to create their own little worlds. Traditionally pre-constructed toys such as doll houses, castles and horse stables are used for small world play opportunities. These however, are not essential to create worlds - blocks and Lego are open ended materials that are great for building fences and buildings.
Underbed storage tubs and drip trays make excellent containers to set up the play, add in some coloured rice, pasta, pebbles, sand or water and you have a whole new world for your toys to live in. Resources such as finger puppets and stick puppets also make excellent characters, alternatively children may like to make their own characters out of construction materials eg a peg person or egg carton cat. The options are endless. Just Google ‘SMALL WORLD PLAY’ images for lots of awesome ideas!
Outdoors or indoors, under a bed, in the bath or in the sandpit. Magnetic and felt small world play packs are easy to pack in the car when travelling.
Small world play encourages children to:
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Develop imagination and creativity skills
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Resolve conflict and differences between characters in a safe environment
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Create their own storylines and story plots
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Manipulate characters
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Imitate real life scenarios
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Use speech and language skills
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Develops sharing and communication skills
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Create characters with different voices and use intonation in their voice