8 Benefits of Role Play for Children

Here at our soft play centre in Sheffield we have a number of different role play areas that your child can explore. It was a big investment we were pleased to make as our little visitors love them!

When your child visits Play Valley Sheffield they can pretend to be a barista in our coffee shop, look after poorly animals at the vet and get creative in the music room.

You might think your little one is just having fun, but role play actually has so many benefits for your child. Take a look below at just eight of them:

1) Encourages their Imagination

We’re always amazed at the new and innovative ways that children interact in our role play area. They’ll find unique ways to use props and invent games to play with other children.

Role play is actually shown to enhance a child’s cognitive flexibility, effectively their brain’s ability to switch between two different concepts, enabling them to find alternative solutions to problems and encouraging their creativity.

2) Improves Communication Skills

Many of our little visitors make friends in the role play area! It’s such a great space for them to communicate with parents, carers and other children.

They’re learning about objects they might not have encountered before and communicating with a mix of children, helping them grow and develop further.

3) Learning Disguised as Play

When your little one arrives at Play Valley, they’re not thinking about learning, they’re just thinking about having a fantastic time!

However in our role play areas, they really are learning about the world around them, whether that’s when they’re caring for a sick puppy or popping a pizza in the oven. They’re learning while they play and they don’t even realise it!

4) Develops Social Skills

Socially soft play is great as it encourages little ones to communicate with other children from lots of different backgrounds.

Due to the way our role play area is set out it means they have to collaborate and cooperate with others.

5) Can Explore Different Environments

As parents we try to expose our children to so many different environments and experiences to help with their development.

Role play within a soft play centre gives them the opportunity to explore lots of different settings in a safe and comfortable environment.

6) Express Ideas and Feelings

Your child might have a really fun idea of something they can do in the music room and we create a safe space for them to explore those ideas.

We also run SEN evening sessions so children that would benefit from a quieter environment can also enjoy all the benefits of role play.

7) Builds Confidence

If your little one struggles with their confidence, role play can be great as it allows them to be someone else and experiment with different roles.

It’s an opportunity to cooperate with other children and get them on board with their ideas, helping their confidence to grow.

8) Supports Physical Development

Those fine motor skills are really being put to work when they’re doing even the smallest things, such as placing bricks in our building wall or checking the temperature of a poorly animal.

If your little one wants to explore our role play areas then bring them down to Play Valley Sheffield. We’re open seven days a week and look forward to seeing you soon!