New words and ways of saying them - how stories and play inspire imagination

Hearing your child using language that takes you by surprise (in a good way!) is fantastic. When your child’s imaginative play starts to include new words and language driven by words heard in stories, on TV, life experiences and in conversations, it ignites a new level of play, language and communication. 

Stories and books are great for introducing language and themes, helping fuel imaginative play. 

Now that your child is becoming better at remembering stories, they are more likely to use the themes and ideas from them in their play.  

Many books are full of rich words and often children question their meanings, trying to work out what they mean and how they can use them. When you hear your child play, you might hear words like turret, binocular or teenie; the list is endless of the new and interesting words they may hear and include in play! 

New words help stimulate thoughts and it's wonderful when these words are expressed during imaginative play.  

An interesting study was carried out in 2017 where researchers introduced novel words in stories to describe unfamiliar objects. When the stories were read aloud to them repeatedly, children soon picked up the made-up words and began using them in play.[1] 

Words and thoughts can sometimes be linked to a character or there might be a phrase from a particular story that captures their interest.  

You may occasionally hear and see signs of your child pretending to be someone else when they copy mannerisms and words of those who inspire them. They might adopt a different accent they’ve heard online or on TV when they’re pretending to be a character, or when talking to you or playing with their friends. 

Exploring accents is fun and they are a tricky thing to maintain at this stage; often new or unfamiliar words will be said in the accent they first heard them in.  

Many books and stories lend themselves to exploring feelings and emotions 

Most stories are based around the feelings and emotions of characters. As children attempt to navigate their own feelings and ideas about play, the vocabulary they learn from stories becomes easier to understand and use to describe how they’re feeling.  

Your child might also be able to use a character's thought processes to help negotiate their own, and to think differently and express ideas.  

This is a lovely phase in your child’s development and hearing new or different words in play can be quite breathtaking.  

It could be a perfect time to visit the library and look for stories with themes and topics that are new for your child.  

Children take in information quickly so it might not be long before a new stream of imaginative play with words and phrases used in context becomes the next big thing in your home.  

Reference: 

[1] Flack, Z., and Horst, J. (2017) Why Do Little Kids Ask to Hear the Same Story Over and Over? Frontier. Young Minds. 5:30. doi: 10.3389/frym.2017.00030