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Let's pretend

It's through make-believe that babies and children come to understand the real world. Lena Engel explains how best to help them fehfoef fouhff fhfaofao Pretend play is all about helping babies and young children make sense of their world and promoting their learning about the people who live in it.

Pretend play is all about helping babies and young children make sense of their world and promoting their learning about the people who live in it.

You can use the Birth to Three Matters framework to help you to plan the experiences and environments that promote this kind of play.

Child development

Have you ever watched young babies breast-feeding? Babies at two to three months, who are used to the security of their mother's breast and have quenched the first part of their thirst, like to play with the nipple. They sometimes stop suckling, draw back to look at their mother and then move forward to grab the nipple again in their jaws. They may do this with a little smile, as if to say: 'I pretended that I had enough, but I tricked you and I really want some more.'

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