How to improve imaginative play and social skills when these don't come naturally?

[tricot39]

Any tips?

DS prefers more structured games and independent play so I wondered if anyone has any ideas to gently help him investigate other options?

He is 5 by the way!

Bump- would love to hear!

Another bump, we could do with that here.

Get him (or make, if you are creative) glove puppets of characters or creatures that he likes, and improvise a 'puppet theatre' from chairs or an old fashioned clothes horse (beware of trapped fingers though) with sheets or old curtains over them. If he can't dream up a 'script' himself, give him some ideas. Invite a few similar-age children round, and they can put on a show for parents. If they like music, it could be a concert, X-Factor or The Voice, or whatever.

Help him open his own 'cafe', with little sandwiches, biscuits, cakes etc, and healthy drinks. Make 'play money' (or use toy money if you have it) and cash register etc. Again, invite friends to come to the cafe, and children could take it in turn to be waiter/waitress, cook, etc. Plenty of TV programmes to inspire a setting, menu, etc.

Also: travel agency with brochures, maps, timetables. Or airport terminal, with check-in, luggage etc. If you know any books or stories in any similar settings, incorporate those as well.

Or Space Station, space travel, other planets etc. Plenty of web sites on all of that stuff; improvise bikes, ride on toys disguised as space ships.

(I didn't work twenty plus years in Infant School/Nursery for nothing you know!)

Thank you Ferguson! I am off to raid our cupboards.....

Great advice Ferguson. Sorry to hijack thread but wondering if anyone had similar ideas but for older ds (7). Should of done much more imaginative play when he was younger but I sort of gave up. Now ds is struggling with social skills and I'm kicking myself for not doing more when he was younger. Well done OP for tackling this issue with your five year old . Good luck

Your nickname is very apt - i was thinking our first shop might have to feature lego!

You can lead a horse to water..... Don't be hard on yourself

Hi minilegofigure - I don't see why most of my suggestions can't be adapted for 7 Yr olds. Subjects may be more 'mature' and a subtle element of 'education' can be introduced, so kids can write scripts, price lists, or whatever themselves. Design posters, menu, tickets, etc either with paper and pencil, or via computer if you have the facility.

Our DS did puppet show kind of things till he was about ten.

Cardboard boxes!

Make a jungle out of material and "explore" it with torches.

Use open- ended objects to create the environment from one of your fave stories. We're going on A Bear Hunt is great for this - you can use strips of silver foil for the snow storm, tissue paper for the wavy grass etc and take a fave toy on a journey through the story.

For your older DS:

Does he like drawing? There's a nice game where you take it in turns to draw - one person shuts their eyes and draws a squiggle and then the other person turns it into a picture of something. It's a good way of getting your imagination going without seeming too much like an imagination game IYSWIM.

One word stories - you take turns to build a story by adding one word at a time.

The object game - put a load of objects on a tray and work together to create a story about them. It could be a story about who owns them or a story which includes all 8 objects. You can make it like a detective game, "e.g I found these can you help work out who they belong to?"

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. I'm going to give them a go. He loves drawing and we play that game consequences where one person draws the head and folds it over so that the other person cannot see and then they draw the body etc. I will try the squiggle game but I can guess what he will draw as he is obsessed by a character and is extremely single minded!