Fantasy Play Benefits for Children

Children have seemingly lost some of their imagination as video games have taken over their time. Even little children have become drawn to tv and video games more now than ever! Sparking fantasy play can be easy when you provide the right environment while limiting electronic time. The benefits of fantasy play are astounding! Here are some of the fantasy play benefits.

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Help Children Work Out Their Emotions

We may look at children and think, “Their problems are not real problems”. To us, real problems are not having enough money for a bill or losing a job. To them, a big problem is having a kid call them “meanie” on the playground at school or being scared that a monster might get them at night. We think those are nothing to be concerned with but to them, they are HUGE problems. Just like adults need a way to escape from their stressors, children do too.

Fantasy play allows children to forget about their worries and make their own happy story. I often find my daughter riding around on her unicorn pretending the bad guys are after her but her unicorn has helped whisk her away to a faraway land away from the scary bad guys. She is learning how to create a solution to her negative situations without even realizing it!

Encourages Creative Thinking

Playing with toys such as unicorns, superheroes or even dressing up as a nurse or a doctor allows children to get creative. In order for them to interact as a different character, they must BE the character. That takes a lot more thinking than most would give credit! Try it for yourself. The more children exercise their ability of fantasy play, the more creative their thinking becomes. 

Perform Better in School

A child who has a wild imagination often does better in school. For one, they are more at ease in life. They are typically happier and less stress. Another reason is that imagination involves the entire brain!

Creativity and imagination requires a widespread neural network in the brain. This mental workspace involves all four hemispheres of both the cerebrum and cerebellum. 

Allows Children to Understand Cause and Effect

During fantasy play, children often come up with a storyline. If you listen to them when they are making up their “story”, they will pretend as if someone or something acts a certain way and then there is a consequence for their negative behavior and a reward for their positive behavior. 

Helps Future Generations

Children who tend to exercise their imagination as a child, often are the ones who grow up to become scientists or inventors. Their mind becomes programmed to think outside the box.

Fantasy play has many benefits that often get overlooked. Now that you know the advantages of fantasy play, it is time to provide your child with the opportunity. Dress up clothes, open-ended play toys, and also toys such as knights and unicorns will provide hours of play for your little one. My daughter is CRAZY over unicorns. She knows they are not real but instead has decided that they can be real in her mind. Here are two of her favorites…

About The Enchanted Electric Ride on Unicorn sold by Hammacher

What little girl wouldn’t love a ride-on unicorn?! This 12-volt battery powered ride on unicorn will be a BIG hit with your little one. It allows children up to 66lbs to ride forward and backward on this magical unicorn going up to 2.8 mph.

Your child will guide the unicorn by the reins through her fantasy world. Riding the unicorn is only half the fun. The unicorn’s horn lights up and plays magical sounds when your child engages with the unicorn’s horn. An hour of magical adventures awaits with each charge.

Children can also brush the bright pink mane and tail with the included brush that snaps into place on the back of the unicorn when not in use. My daughter LOVES riding her “Magical Unicorn” all over the place. She stores the unicorn in her bedroom so she can style her hair anytime she would like. She even rides her unicorn on her carpet (not recommended to ride on other types of flooring to prevent scratching). 

About the Tender Touch Magical Unicorn

Increase your child’s imagination with this magical plush unicorn that makes children feel like they are in a fantasy world with a real unicorn. 

As they pet the back of the soft, stuffed unicorn, it magically lights up and produces a sparkly sound right out of a fairy tale. An on/off switch gives the child a way to transform the toy into a sleeping buddy at night.  

Check out these and other fantasies play toys at Hammacher Schlemmer.