Play

I've read and studied about play in child development over the years.  I've found some commonalities in the arguments between play for children and reading fantasy literature.  I've collected a few artifacts that show these similarities.

Arguments for Play

The Need for Pretend Play in Child Development
"We often use the terms pretend play or make-believe play (the acting out of stories which involve multiple perspectives and the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions), that reflect a critical feature of the child’s cognitive and social development."


"Systematic research has increasingly demonstrated a series of clear benefits of children’s engagement in pretend games from the ages of about two and one half through ages six or seven. Actual studies have demonstrated cognitive benefits such as increases in language usage including subjunctives, future tenses, and  adjectives. The important concept of 'theory of mind,' an awareness that one’s thoughts may differ from those of other persons  and that there are a variety of perspectives of which each of us is capable, is closely related to  imaginative play (Jenkins & Astington, 2000; Leslie, 1987; Singer & Singer, 1990; Singer & Singer, 2005)."

Let's Pretend: Why Fantasy Play is So Important

(Source: http://somersetmall.co.za/blog/lets-pretend-why-fantasy-play-is-so-important-for-children/)

"True fantasy play and role play is when children dip in and out of it; where children swop roles and characters on a regular basis to experience different aspects of themselves in a multitude of ways to process their inner world."



"Children learn important social and emotional skills when they indulge in fantasy and pretend play with other children."


Arguments for Fantasy Literature

(Source: http://perimga.pw/i-funny-a-middle-school-story-quiz.html)

The Real Purpose of Fantasy
"Fantasy is vital for the human mind. It begins as the psychological process by which a child learns to fill the gaps between knowledge, reality and experience, and becomes a vital adult coping mechanism."

"they have to engage with make-believe to bridge the gap between experience and knowledge"

"Taking one step away from reality to that "safe" place of pretend, prepares us to look the world's harsh realities in the face. From there we can name the horrors and celebrate the joys before going back, with a clearer perspective on situations that bother us."



Why a Good Book is a Secret Door by Mac Barnett (Ted Talk)

I think it could be argued that reading fantasy literature is another form of play for children.