When I was young I played what I called 'house'--
pretend play of having my own family, someone the mom, dad, baby, etc...When I played with people figures, barbie dolls, whatever...I called it 'dolls' or 'dollhouse'.
Well, my girls have their own play language...When they play 'house' they call it playing 'man', which makes sense, but then they play "baby policeman"--I have NO idea what that is about. I have watched, listened, and asked questions and I still just don't get it, but they all seem to completely understand how it all works. When someone says, "Let's play baby policeman!" Everyone jumps into position and knows the characters, plot, etc...
A new thing they play is called, "Little Mouse", now I don't get this one either but what I do know is that I DO NOT LIKE this game.
From what I understand, they collect food for winter, but food being crayons, markers, rocks, puzzle pieces, game parts, books, toys, toothbrushes, underwear, mail...you name it, whatever they can find, they collect....then they take their socks and they stuff each sock full of these items, they take buckets, plastic grocery bags and they fill them with these things (not in an organized way, they switch it all up) and then they hide them...under the kitchen table, under their beds, behind the couches, etc...and they call this playing "Little Mouse".
This game takes FOREVER to clean up...!!! (they occasionally even stuff real food and dirty laundry into plastic bags and hide them), and I never seem to know when they are playing until I start finding their stores of 'food' or when I look under one of their beds and find 25, stuffed full, plastic bags.
So, now, since I have caught on to the plot of this game, whenever I hear them say, "Let's play little mouse", I jump in and say "
NO, you can only play little mouse if it is outside"
So, we are at the beach, and here they are playing "Little Mouse"...
they are frantically running around, collecting rocks, seaweed, shells, and even live animals before winter comes.
I smile, sit, watch, and occasionally help them clean their food before they store it. I just love their little imaginations at work, and it is much easier to enjoy their little imaginations in a place where I can
sit,
watch, and then
leave the mess for the ocean to clean up on it's journey in.
Do your kids 'pretend play' anything strange like that?
Well, my girls have their own play language...When they play 'house' they call it playing 'man', which makes sense, but then they play "baby policeman"--I have NO idea what that is about. I have watched, listened, and asked questions and I still just don't get it, but they all seem to completely understand how it all works. When someone says, "Let's play baby policeman!" Everyone jumps into position and knows the characters, plot, etc... 
A new thing they play is called, "Little Mouse", now I don't get this one either but what I do know is that I DO NOT LIKE this game. 
From what I understand, they collect food for winter, but food being crayons, markers, rocks, puzzle pieces, game parts, books, toys, toothbrushes, underwear, mail...you name it, whatever they can find, they collect....then they take their socks and they stuff each sock full of these items, they take buckets, plastic grocery bags and they fill them with these things (not in an organized way, they switch it all up) and then they hide them...under the kitchen table, under their beds, behind the couches, etc...and they call this playing "Little Mouse". 
This game takes FOREVER to clean up...!!! (they occasionally even stuff real food and dirty laundry into plastic bags and hide them), and I never seem to know when they are playing until I start finding their stores of 'food' or when I look under one of their beds and find 25, stuffed full, plastic bags. 
So, now, since I have caught on to the plot of this game, whenever I hear them say, "Let's play little mouse", I jump in and say "NO, you can only play little mouse if it is outside"
So, we are at the beach, and here they are playing "Little Mouse"...
they are frantically running around, collecting rocks, seaweed, shells, and even live animals before winter comes. 
I smile, sit, watch, and occasionally help them clean their food before they store it. I just love their little imaginations at work, and it is much easier to enjoy their little imaginations in a place where I can sit, watch, and then leave the mess for the ocean to clean up on it's journey in.
Do your kids 'pretend play' anything strange like that?
4 comments:
mostly, my kids pretend. the oldest usually orchestrates everything, but occasionally her little brother likes to chime in.
"annie, pretend you're my mommy and i'm your brother..."
haa... funny post b/c I could totally relate. The boys do stuff like that, too but they don't have names for the games they make up. They'll just be like "hey, let's play make houses" or "do restaurant" and before I know it, every pillow, blanket, stuffed animal, toy, trinket, shoe, socks, you name it is in piles as they use them for their game of pretend. I call it "piling." I'll be like "what are you piling for now?" Then they'll explain their current need to pile. Their "games" take forever to clean up... you explained it perfectly. (PS I am NOT telling the boys about your girls' "mouse" game! If they heard the name for that one it would take their "piling" ideas to a new level... from "piling" to "hoarding" and I can barely deal with the piling!!!) Even right now outside I have to go out to clean up their latest "pile"... I took pics the other day; I'll upload them later to the blog... they have every water toy, float, bucket, etc, lined up so water from the hose will pour from one thing to the next and then they send down pinecones, pine needles, rocks, etc, down their water slides... the whole side yard looks like an obstacle course. Sometimes cute, sometimes annoying...depends on my mood. :-)
Oh yeah! They play camping, and stuff little toy animals into their socks, daddy's socks, my socks, and so on. They will also DUMP every game and puzzle in the house all over the living room floor and have things EVERYWHERE! I've been working on stopping that one BEFORE it starts because it's a hideous mess to clean up later.
Yes, the girls pretend play all the time. I'd say probably 40% of the time, when one of them calls "Mommy!" they're NOT talking about me! LOL
Elizabeth is a bit young for pretend play, but she can be content forever, it seems, dumping everything out of a box, drawer, etc. & then picking it back up...though sometimes she has to be directed on the putting-away part. Their little games & your descriptions tickled me & reminded me of playing house & whatever other games we'd come up with as kids. I love to see kids using their imaginations & not just being plied wit the latest toy or video. :-)
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