Pretend Play

Pretend play is the one kind that mostly runs itself once it has started. The job is setting the scene: a cardboard box becomes a shop counter, three cushions become a boat, a tea towel becomes a cape. After that, step back.

What helps is props with more than one use. A set of plastic bowls can be a café, a vet's surgery, a soup kitchen or a rocket control panel across a single week, where a plastic till is only ever a till.

This is also where a lot of language turns up — negotiating rules, giving instructions, narrating what is happening. You do not need to join in for that to work, though being served a great many imaginary coffees is part of the deal.