It's not the case that because a child does exactly what an adult wants them to do, they're cooperating. That's compliance, and it's a different thing. Cooperation is 'we're in this together' rather than 'do what I say', and children need to learn this skill and practise it regularly.

Whenever you play you use your imagination. When you build a tower with blocks, cuddle your soft toys, and paint masterpieces with your fingers you're using your imagination. But there’s something particularly special about pretend play and research shows you will benefit hugely from it, especially between the ages of two and seven. Here are just five reasons to enjoy your pretend play more than you already do!

THESE WOMEN ARE INCREDIBLE!
 
Our Annual Seminar in 2019 looked different to the one we had this weekend. Back then, in the October before the pandemic, we had 30 franchisees from across the UK join us for our seminar at a lovely big hotel...

Line up two rows of chairs, and what have you got? An airplane, of course! Where’s it flying to? Turkey, where else? And who’s on it? A dog, a princess, a toddler, a nervous traveller, and a grumpy old man...

I’ve taught over 10,000 classes, but when I first launched Pyjama Drama, the only experience I had with preschool children was with my own. Back then, I was a secondary school drama teacher who was more used to teaching Macbeth than playing hide-and-seek, but having children opened my eyes to the wonder of a child’s imagination, and so Pyjama Drama was born.

This is Hazel. The perfect combination of positive, humble, and caring, Hazel is the kind of person you want on your team...

This is Alex. His smile is everything because until just a few weeks ago, I rarely saw a smile and for months, Alex chose to observe Pyjama Drama from the sidelines rather than join in. Thankfully, Alex attends an amazing nursery with a wonderful practitioner, Julie Morton,  who has seen this before and knows not to assume that because a child isn’t participating, they’re not learning. So, we work together and don’t insist, bribe, or cajole. And we certainly never label a child as ‘shy’. Instead, we go about our business of play with gentle encouragement, and we wait.

This picture is taken in one of our after-school drama clubs. It shows a group of five and six-year-olds in role as a family, taken down by the same sickness bug. The children were asked to freeze in role and as you can see, did an amazing job of using their facial expressions and body language to express their character’s feelings.

This is Louie. Louie is five and with his infectious smile and sense of fun, he is a much-loved member of Pyjama Drama. When he first started, Louie was reluctant to share his ideas and sometimes sat at the side and watched the others play, but now he joins in with all our activities and LOVES to pretend.

Long gone are the days when parents or teachers worried that a child’s imaginary friend was proof that they had no ‘real’ friends or that they were displaying signs of psychological trauma or social deficiency. It’s now accepted that it is not uncommon, nor in itself worrying, for young children to have an imaginary pal.