Nursery World - Home Learning - A parent’s guide to… small-world play

Although this type of activity is child-led, parents can help their children immerse themselves in worlds of their own making by following these tips. By Penny Tassoni

If you have never heard of ‘small-world’ play, don’t worry. In early years, this term is used to describe the play associated with toys such as farm animals, cars and play people. Most early years settings have collections of these types of toys to support this play, and indeed, your own child may be an avid dinosaur or play people collector.

So why is this type of play of such interest to children and what are its potential benefits?

FIVE THINGS PARENTS NEED TO KNOW

1. A special type of imaginative play

You may have already spotted that your child’s early years setting has a home corner, dressing-up rail and/or a pretend shop. These, as well as small-world play, are all forms of imaginative or pretend play. What makes small-world play unique is that children do not take on a role or pretend to be something as they play with the trains, dinosaurs or play people. Instead, they act more like a film or theatre director.

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