Buying a Play Kitchen May Help Your Child's Development

If your child comes home with an imaginary friend or wants to pretend he's in a fantasy world, it's probably not a good idea to discourage it. Children have had pretend friends and played kitchen for a long time and this may help their growth. According to numerous studies, imaginative and pretend play aid in the cognitive development of children. These children are more adept at functioning in a social setting and conceptualizing complex ideas. There are multiple reasons for this.

Pretend play allows children to play with one another and act out in a role. This encourages children to engage in social interaction and learn how to act with others. It creates empathy within the children because these children who are playing pretend are acting like someone else. They are putting themselves in someone else's shoes, which may help them accept differences in others. One WSJ article chronicling a few studies on early childhood development stated how those with autism don't usually pretend play and were less able to function in a social setting. Researchers are figuring whether there is a connection here.

Moreover, educational toys like a play kitchen help your children make sense of reality. It's hard for children to understand how things work. A play kitchen allows the child to become an active participant. He or she can run wild with his or her imagination and pretend it's a real life kitchen with ingredients and cooking pans. Once the child uses his pretend kitchen enough, he will be able to apply what he experienced to what he sees in a real kitchen. Toys that support pretend play and imagination are beneficial tools to foster this growth.