Observe the child in dramatic play with dolls or action figures and props.
The adult can start a theme. For example, the adult can say, “I want something to eat. Can you fix me something to eat?” The adult can also expand the play. For example, when the child offers a pretend cookie, the adult says, “I also need something to drink.”
The child at this age loves to act out different activities. He quickly responds to adult requests for expansion of ideas and offers his own ideas.
Joint play with early childhood educators and parents is important at this level, as children are understanding and communicating with expanded vocabulary. They want to continue the play sequence and want additional suggestions for new activities. Adults play an important role in helping children think of play sequences that they will later recreate on their own.
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015
©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.