Family and dramatic play

Tip

Ideas for props and materials

You can use a wide range of props and materials to encourage your tamaiti to explore and try out new ideas, including:

culturally diverse materials and equipment
dress-up clothes and accessories so they can role play
dolls, dolls’ clothing, beds and bedding
table, chairs, kitchen utensils and furniture
a clothesline with pegs
toy stoves, cash registers, toy petrol stations
open-ended resources such as boxes and lengths of material
a mirror at child height
props such as brooms, wands, plastic cups and saucers, pots and pans, doctor and nurse sets
writing materials to make, for example, menus for a restaurant, money for a shop, signs for a road, invitations to a party.

Learning through family and dramatic play#

Tamariki might pretend to be a parent, doctor, or animal or act out feelings and events.

Family and dramatic play can help tamariki to:

use their imagination and be creative
explore taking on a role, pretending and acting out ideas
express their feelings
make up their own stories, songs and chants
make sense of the world around them
learn and practise social skills such as cooperating and understanding another person’s point of view
learn language and practise using it
practice and develop manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, responsibility and self-confidence.

You can help support your tamaiti by:

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