Mini Module 1: Symbolic Play

How many times have you heard “if you want to help your child love to read – read to them”. Reading to a child is indeed one very crucial way to help them develop an interest in words and books.

However, there are many other activities and games that enhance a child’s literacy development. One of these is symbolic play. Symbolic play is when a child uses one object to represent and pretend it is something else. Some examples of symbolic play include using a block as a phone, a doll as a child or a box as a car. When children use objects as a symbol of something else they are using the same thinking skills that will later help them to recognize words as symbols for describing their experiences. Some other skills that children can explore through symbolic play are:

• Leading and planning an activity with peers
• Learning new sounds and words through conversations or narrating the activity
• Revisiting experiences as a way to build their understanding and previous knowledge
• Identifying the sequence of an experience and predicting or planning what will happen next

Providing children with opportunities to practice and build skills that enhance literacy development through symbolic play is not as complicated as it may sound. Here are a few opportunities you can provide that can support and encourage symbolic play with children.

Offer a variety of writing tools and materials
Example include clipboards, magazines, pencils, pens, pads of paper, books, menus, calendar, phone books and newspapers. Having these items available in many areas of the classroom and outdoors provides children the option to incorporate them in their play throughout the day. Easy access to items that contain or create letters helps children connect the role of words play in creating a meaning for an object, a very important step in literacy development.

Display clothes, household objects and recyclable containers throughout the classroom and outdoors
Whether you call it “dress up”, dramatic or symbolic play children love to explore and create their own stories by wearing real shoes, hats and other every day items found around home or work. Real items like an old phone, recycled containers or boxes can encourage symbolic and dramatic play and create opportunities for children to practice language and storytelling skills as well as process their life experiences.

Listen and tell or write the story
Listen to children as they participate in symbolic play. They often narrate their activities either through telling the story or directing their peers in the game or scenario they are playing. While observing from the sidelines you can write out what the children are saying in story form. You may also want to extend their explorations and play by gently asking questions, sharing your observations out loud or suggesting items if they are stuck trying to come up with what to do next. Let children see that you are writing their activities down and that if they want you can read parts back to them. Later, take the story out and read it back to them asking the children to share their memory of the experience and decide if they would like to create pictures to go with the story.

Take it outside
It is easy to get stuck thinking that learning to read is about sitting and listening. However, symbolic play can happen anywhere. In fact the more variety a child has to express what they are learning and “practice” it in play the better. Children love acting out stories they have already heard outside using natural props or ones provided by the grown ups around them. Playing side by side with children and asking questions about their experience helping them think more deeply about the story they are creating. It also can help you identify what is most interesting to them and ways to you could extend their exploration by bringing in other items or experiences that can extend their learning.

Draw or take pictures
Creating pictures or drawings of children in action is another way of helping them learn that letters and words are a way of using symbols to describe an activity. This simple process has a powerful effect of making a child’s play feel honored and important. Pictures or drawings make it easy for a child or group of children to revisit an experience and tell the story. When you share the pictures or drawings with the children you can then write out the dialog or description. Whether on a clipboard, large sheet of paper or at a computer while sitting in your lap most children get excited when they see how the letters you are writing creates their story.

As Children watch write and use words or when they create their own words with real or pretend letters to represent their story they are making a vital connection in their literacy development.

Now take this short true/false quiz on the material you just read: