StartFragmentOne of the core values stated in the Early Years learning framework (EYLF) is that play ‘provides opportunities for children to learn as they discover, create, improvise and imagine.’ When children are engaged in dramatic play they form a type of symbolic play that is evident when they use objects, take on role plays and invent scenarios to make meaning of who they are, where th...ey’ve come from, how to learn about others,, the world they live in and their place in it. They are experimenting with decision making on how to behave and are also practising their social skills. Children learn from experience: from what happens around them, from what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch. To absorb those experiences and make sense of the world, they need to be engaged in imaginary play. Dramatic play has been described as ‘a story like performance of a player taking on an imaginary role’ (Kostelnik et al, 2006) and that it ‘permits children to fit the reality of the world into their own interests and knowledge.’ A child can be a parent, fire officer, chef, doctor, puppy, super hero or grouchy monster, and their dramatic world can reflect anywhere their imagination take s them. Importantly, the dramatic play process does not require groups of children to interact with one another; this is defined as socio-dramatic play. In most scenarios dramatic play is a spontaneous, child-initiated play experience, which can occur parallel to other children but does not always necessarily involve them directly. Outcome 1 – Children have a strong sense of identity –learn to interact in relation to others, as they engage in and contribute to shared play experiences.
Outcome 5 – Children are effective communicators – They begin to use language to engage in play to imagine and create roles, scripts and ideas. NQS – Standard 1.1 – 1.1.1EndFragment