Ages + Stages, Baby & Toddler, Elementary Kids

37 Simple Pretend Play Ideas to Keep Your Kid Busy

The muffled giggles didn’t give Ellery and Aidan’s position away. Rather, my daughter’s Army-like order of “Get down, or she’ll see you!” did the trick. I acted unaware of their shenanigans and continued cooking dinner. After all, spies will be spies, even if the said covert operatives were just two 6-year-olds pretending to be on a mission.

Dr. David F. Bjorklund, a developmental psychologist, refers to pretend play as a “metaphoric multivitamin” for kids’ brains. Through pretend play, young children develop critical skills like creativity, problem-solving, communication, and understanding feelings and relationships. Oh, yeah, and they have fun. Crank up the pretend play in your home with these 37 ideas to keep your child busy, happy, and learning!

Taking It Outside

1. Archaeological Dig – Use a sandbox or dirt area and provide brushes and tools to excavate ancient artifacts or dinosaur bones.

2. Medieval Kingdom – Build castles from natural materials or divide the yard into kingdoms. Encourage kids to assign roles like knight, queen, dragon tamer, or unicorn rider. And, of course, encourage a quest to test everyone’s bravery.

3. Space Explorers – Transform a playground into spaceships or space stations. After navigating through an asteroid belt, kids can collect specimens from Jupiter’s smallest moon and look for alien life forms. (Wait. That’s just Dad.)

4. Storm Chasers – Set up weather stations with binoculars, umbrellas, and walkie-talkies. See what happens when kids respond to extreme weather scenarios with “live updates” or search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

5. Post-Storm Rescue Team – Kids can switch to emergency response scenarios after the weather from #4 passes. Use ropes and equipment to save stuffed animals blown to the top of the slide. Watch out for the lava!

6. Magical Potions Master – Provide basic ingredients for kids to make potions. Water, food coloring, juice boxes, and mineral water can make some interesting (and safe-to-drink) concoctions.

7. Pirate Adventure – That’s not a swing set. It’s a pirate ship! Create treasure maps and look for buried chests. (Your little scallywags might enjoy starting inside with these Treasure Hunt Clues!)

8. Fairy Garden – Let your kids create a magical spot in your yard, at the park, or on a hiking trail. Help them gather sticks, leaves, and acorns to build tiny houses. Then, let their imaginations fly away.

9. Camping Adventure – Put up a tent in your back yard or drape a sheet over outdoor chairs. Give kids flashlights and snacks and roll out the sleeping bags… and the pretend play.

Pretend Play Adventures Perfect for Inside

10. Time Travelers – Designate rooms as different time periods. Battle dinosaurs in the den. Deliver mail on the Pony Express in the bedroom. Hit the dance floor for a disco or breakdancing in the kitchen. Or maybe kids magically turn back into toddlers or become adults in specific rooms.

11. Secret Agent – Create missions. Decode secret messages and track rogue agents (like the cat!) using household items as spy gear. Is that a paper towel tube or a spy cam? Let your kid decide.

12. One-Room School House – Pull out a whiteboard, paper, and stickers. Your child can teach stuffed animals how to read. Send siblings to the principal’s office. (Uh-oh!) Or declare it an all-day recess day.

13. Detective Agency – Kids can collect evidence, interrogate a person of interest, spy on the dog, and crack the case of the missing sock. (Was it the dog or the dryer?!)

14. Doctor’s Office – Your child will love checking vitals, bandaging “wounds,” and giving a diagnosis. And, if your child often feels scared to go to the pediatrician, pretend play can help her work through her fears.

15. Restaurant – Your child can create a menu, set the table, and seat the guests. Don’t forget to assign roles like wait staff, host, and chef.

16. Shipwrecked Explorer – Your child can use pillows and blankets to build a shelter on the island. Then, hunt for food and a water source while mapping out the terrain. Eek! Do dinosaurs live here? Is that volcano about to explode? Better construct a life raft to sail away.

17. Train Conductor – Line up the dining room chairs, give your child a whistle, and let him declare, “All Aboard!” Then, chugachugchug down the tracks to the North Pole, Paris, or Honolulu. (Hey, the travel rules go off the rails in pretend play!)

For the Kid Who Loves Animals

18. Jungle Safari – Pull out the stuffed animals or animal figures. Encourage your child to create animal habitats. Then, lead guided tours through the jungle or savannah.

19. Forest Ranger – Create nature observation stations where your child can track the local wildlife (pets and bugs count!), make maps of her territory, and even use a field journal to observe the backyard birds.

20. Farmer in the Den – Horses, and chickens, and pigs, oh my! Pull on those muck boots. Grab a basket for egg collecting. And see what kind of adventure your child dreams up on the farm.

For the Kid Who Loves Sports

21. Sports Announcer – Give your kid a microphone, a sports coat, and a clipboard. Your child can narrate imaginary games, conduct player interviews, and give a post-game analysis. Or take a turn being a guest for College Game Day.

22. Spring Training Camp – Your child can create obstacle courses, develop specialized drills, and track performance stats. And, hey, if you want to squeeze in a workout, then sign up for your kid’s camp! While it might be pretend play to your child, that won’t be pretend sweat rolling down your back.

23. Professional Athlete – Star quarterback. First-round draft pick. First-ever person to win the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Triple Crown. Hey, in pretend play, anything is possible.

For the Creative Kid

24. Street Artist – Give your child sidewalk chalk and let her design temporary art installations on the driveway. Then, she can hold an art opening to showcase her work.

25. Clothing Designer – Pull out the dress-up clothes and let your child create a runway fashion show with new designs, an upbeat playlist, and VIP guests. (Mom, that includes you and Lambie!)

26. Pop Star – Microphone. Check one. Cool outfit. Check two. Headlining the Super Bowl. Check three!