Three children help each other use Now Press Play, with a quote: "It gave me the experience of seeing what other people go through and how to react in those situations."

Use Constructive Imaginative Play to Get Your Children Talking

After reading The Guardian’s article on how mental health experts say ‘play will be essential to help relieve stress and anxiety among children’ we put together some of the benefits on how using now>press>play for imaginative play in school and at home can help your children to share their feelings.

Each now>press>play Experience gives your children the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes and experience different challenges, as well as possibilities of how to solve them through constructive play. 

1. The Power of Imagination

Being able to engage in imaginative play is a safe way for children to practice how they might respond to real life situations.  Of course, we can’t practice for every situation, but being able to place children in the shoes of one of our characters in our Experiences is a great way to ignite their imagination, extend life experiences and have fun!

2. Social & Emotional Skills

Imaginative play helps children to understand the social context and scenarios they are placed in.  Through play and imagination they can begin to explore how and why we react in certain ways.  This helps them to navigate how they might respond in a real life scenario  and also supports the development of empathy through pretending to be ‘another person’.  This really shines through in the discussions at the end of each Experience when asking children how it made them feel.

3. Language Skills

Children learn by hearing the voices and language of adults around them and tend to use that language in their play.  By engaging in imaginative play such as our Experiences children can build on their existing vocabulary and develop communication skills. You can support this by creating word banks for children to access pre/post an Experience.

4. Creative Skills

By empowering children to use their imagination and actively encouraging learning through play and movement children are able to see themselves as creators and  problem solvers.  It gives them the tools to have innovative approaches to situations, vital skills in our ever changing, fast paced digital world.

“At times it looked like they had forgotten they were in school; they were so fixated on the story line - living the role of the characters. Moreover, they were engrossed in valuable learning. I felt the strands of SMSC throughout; problem solving skills and drama led to two extremely active lessons.”

Get Talking: Help children develop emotional responses and discussion skills

With all the uncertainty around schools reopening, it seems that children are bound to have many anxieties and feelings that they find difficult to verbalise.  By using play and educational adventures like our Experiences you can give the children in your school the opportunity to explore their emotions in a safe environment.  The end of an Experience is a perfect opportunity to lead a discussion on how it made them feel and see how it may lead into other areas of life.

We’d love to hear back from you and hear about how your children are responding. Email us on hello@nowpressplay.co.uk

A young boy listening through pink headphones, immersed in an imaginary rainforest scene