One of the few things I remember doing while alone as a child was pretending. I constantly pretended that I was on a boat, or driving a car, or that my stuffed animal could fly, or that the tree in the backyard was a monster. I think pretending is a very prominent quality in all children. In part I think it stems from mimicking the world around them. Over the time I’ve spent with my son watching his development it seems that he learns things by trying to do what we do. Talk and he tries to repeat what you said. Throw a ball and he’ll try to do the same. Jump and he’ll try to jump. it’s not that he doesn’t discover things on his own (he does) but that he pays close attention to the things that others do and learns fastest when copying them. The next step, of course, is pretending.
Recently our son has been washing his parents’ hands. He’s been washing our hands while we sit. He’ll bring up any bottle he can find (water, shampoo, lotion or even just a similarly shaped object) and he’ll force our hands open to tap the bottle (unopened) onto each of our palms. He’ll then smile, go and set the bottle carefully down (right side up, so nothing “spills” out), and returns to press our hands together and rub them together. Our son is washing our hands. Then he repeats this behavior until we stop him by standing up or starting some other activity. To me, this is the beginning of pretending and I’m so happy to be able to see it in action. He imagines the soap. As someone studying “pretend” (theatre and performance) I’m fascinated by pretending. A call to arms: pretend a little today!