Imagine the scene. A three-year-old tells another child to change the baby’s nappy while slamming down a toy iron on a board and sighing deeply. The other child, dressed as a superhero, picks up a doll and strides out. Such domestic scenes are regularly played out in early years settings as children enjoy taking on both familiar and new roles in their play.
This type of play incorpates the ‘home corner’, ‘dressing up’, as well as ‘fantasy’ and ‘superhero’ play, but here I am going to use the umbrella term of ‘role play’. Taking on and acting out a part is taken seriously by children, so I would argue that settings should plan and provide for it with equal seriousness.
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