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Attributes – Role Playing

by Jennifer Asimow

Did you know that when children play “make-believe” and assume the roles of different characters in the play, they are using “attributes” to define themselves as their characters?

So, if two children go over to the housekeeping area and one becomes the “daddy” and one becomes the “baby” you can ask questions that will help the children define their characters by assigning attributes to them. “What makes someone a Daddy?” is one way to approach this, or you could ask, “How do you know he is a Daddy?” These questions will help children explore the characteristics of their alter-egos which will also give parameters to their characters. You can also suggest attributes for their characters by provoking the play purposefully. You could suggest that the baby is hungry (an attribute) or tired (also an attribute). You could propose that the daddy is the “cook” of the house or that he is the person who takes care of the baby. Suggesting alternate scenarios may deepen the play as it will also challenge stereotypes.

I like thinking about how dress-up can include mathematical concepts.

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