Benefits Of Pretend Play

I really thought the pretend play area strategies for students with cognitive delays were interesting. I had never correlated the need for pretend play to assist students with cognitive delays, until I read this. Our text suggests providing opportunities for students with cognitive delays to use representations of real objects. This can help these students explore every day items in a non-threatening way. Our text also suggests using play scripts to help students predict. This teaches students manners, and the unspoken rules of the world. Pretend play is an opportunity for students to explore social situations. This can also help students slow down, and think of how their actions have corresponding good or bad consequences. When I think of
the needs of students with cognitive delays, I typically go straight to thinking of academic and communication accommodations. I had previously overlooked the benefits of pretend play for students with cognitive delays. Pretend play is important for all students, but this type of play can be a fun way to teach students with cognitive delays a lot about real life situations.