Creativity and Pedagogy in Dramatic Play: Importance and Role

This article discusses the importance and role of creativity in dramatic play for young children. It identifies the most prominent aspects of creativity in relation to dramatic play and discusses the pedagogical practices that educators need to implement for creativity in the field of dramatic-play.

Running Head: CREATIVITY AND PEDAGOGY
Creativity and Pedagogy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Topic- Creativity and Pedagogy in the field of Dramatic play
Identify the most prominent aspects of creativity in relation to dramatic play
Dramatic play is a type of play designed to help students accept and assign roles and play
them. It is a kind of activity where students are engaged in pretending to be something else. The
real world roles are sometimes adopted by the student and sometimes fantasized roles are also
taken. This kinds of plays breaks the barriers of reality and enables the students to sink into their
creative world thereby attaining natural learning. It is always better than a classroom lecture and
brings out the best part from within the child. The choice of roles differs from one child to
another. Some children prefer to pretend to feed a doll and rock the cradle. Some children like to
pretend a superman and save people and there are also some who want to settle a leaky faucet in
a mock –kitchen. It is a process of learning while playing as supported by Lillard et al., (2013).
According to Bruce, (2011) dramatic play is an essential part of a well-structured pre-
school program and highly beneficial in early child development. This unique way of study
helps to develop the expressiveness of language and its pronunciation. It is the best platform to
reduce the stage –fear of a child and welcomes the child to participate in an open group.
Dramatic play enhances the mathematical skills of the student and supports literacy. For
example, if a child is playing the role of a teacher teaching in a class, he / she is eventually gets
the chance to deal with equations and formulas (although simple ones). The students get the
chance to analyze a character while playing it. The children get opportunity to act out their real
life situations too and it is the best place for that. The children get empowered by acting out their
traumatic experiences. It relaxes their mental condition and paves way for creativity
development.

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Discuss the role and importance of creativity in relation to dramatic play for young
children
Each and every child must be encouraged to express their ideas because it is a crucial
factor for emotional, physical and intellectual growth. Anything and everything kids explore in
themselves contributes to the formation of their personality in future. Children get physically
exercised while playing, running, using their senses to acquire knowledge about the
environment. When they are engaged in dramatic play they act out different characters and roles.
During the entre process they involve themselves in many physical activities such as preparing
the stage, painting the papers to make masks and many others. A successful role play and
appraisal from the audience increases the confidence level of the child and heightens the self –
esteem says (Mayesky, 2003). As they grow old the childhood habit of learning about a character
and feel at one with that character using the intellectual skills develop their critical thinking and
problem solving capabilities. Being a part of the dramatic play they get the opportunity to
interact with other children. It is the platform where their social learnings are built. They learn to
respect, sympathize and communicate with the other members of the same society they belong
to.
Identify the pedagogical practices that educators need to implement a creativity in the field
of dramatic-play
The educators are the true inspirers of creativity to young children. Along with usual
encouragement to the students, they can conduct a meta- analysis to find out the best possible
ways to promote creativity in children especially in the field of dramatic play. There are few
unique techniques the educators must apply for better outcomes. The students should be
encouraged to do pantomime which is the non-verbal communication that evaluates how much a

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child can express without speaking. The students must be allowed to organize and discuss the
dialogues of the characters they are playing the role of (Mayesky,2014). The best part of a
student’s inner self comes out when he/she is given the opportunity to create stories and
characters along with appropriate dialogues. This is the best platform to use their creativity and
imagination and foster the authentic self.

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Reference
Bruce, T. (2011). Cultivating creativity. London: Hodder Education.
Lillard, A. S., Lerner, M. D., Hopkins, E. J., Dore, R. A., Smith, E. D., & Palmquist, C. M.
(2013). The impact of pretend play on children's development: A review of the
evidence. Psychological bulletin, 139(1), 1.
Mayesky, M. (2003). How to foster creativity in all children. Australia: Thomson/Delmar
Learning.
Mayesky, M. (2014). Creative activities and curriculum for young children. Cengage Learning.