There are numerous benefits to pretend play, among them, a venue for children to express and talk about a variety of emotions within a safe, fun environment. Some children have difficulty expression emotion, particularly children with developmental delays such as autism.  A recent article by Sandra Russ, she suggests some ways to help children express emotions through make-believe play.

Since play is a way for children to learn adaptive skills like how to understand social cues, how to negotiate fairness, and express feelings in a thoughtful way, it promotes empathy by allowing children to think about and attempt to express how others are feeling.

A child playing the “bad guy” in a game may express anger, or, conversely, in the role of “hero,” he may express joy.

Pretend play also lets children label their feelings and is linked to their creativity.

Some suggestions for fostering this exploration of emotions through play are:

Comment on your child’s play through narration. For instance, you may say of a playmate, ”He looks really happy that he won the game!”

Demonstrate for younger children what emotions look like. Jump up and down and use a high-pitched voice to show happiness.

Ask open-ended questions such as, “I wonder how she feels?”

Encourage your child to demonstrate emotions by suggesting he make up a sad story about a child who has lost a favorite toy.