Small world play is the use of miniature version items for play such as dolls or play farms that reflect the real world. It is a way of creating and recreating settings and scenes, whether real-life or imaginary, in smaller child-size proportions. Similar to imaginative play, small world play encourages children to consolidate and explore their life experiences and other things they have learnt, as well as to view the world in the shoes of others. The only difference between small world play and imaginative play is, as the name suggests, the toys are much smaller in size and play is more contained. This means there are clearer boundaries showing where the play ends and the real world exists. On top of the available toys for small world play in the market, children can also expand on their creativity through devising their own toys using other materials such as a shoe box or even cola bottles.
THE BENEFITS OF SMALL WORLD PLAY
Small world play is typically popular among younger children including pre-schoolers and toddlers between ages 18 and 24 months. If you pay attention to your child as they indulge in small world play, you might be able to hear them narrate their stories as they act out what their tiny characters are doing as if in a movie. Small world play is an excellent method for children to explore the world around them as well as work on their language skills that they are acquiring quickly at that age.
Children only begin collaborative play with their peers when they get older. When at a younger age, they begin by playing on their own, immersing themselves in their make-believe plots and explorations before they begin the next stage of playing alongside other children. When they start playing with other children, they learn to co-create stories and scenes and gradually learn to share with and accommodate others.
THE BEST TOYS FOR SMALL WORLD PLAY
You don’t need fanciful toys in your child’s small world toybox to encourage them in small world play. The simplest toys encourage the best creativity and imagination in children. Some items we recommend to include in their toybox are miniature vehicles, wooden blocks, play figurines such as people or animals or doll house furniture.
Providing toys and suitable items for their small world toybox for your child will strongly encourage them to spend more time in small world play and enjoy its benefits. There are many different kinds of small world play toys available to suit your child’s preferences. Whether they want to reenact the scene of their house or in a farm, we have it all! At Kidpowered, we have a wide variety of toys available to cater to your child’s needs in small world play. Get in touch with us to find out more about the toys that we provide or simply for advice on the best toys for your child to get started on small world play!