pretend play/ what should we be expecting from a 2 years old

[LaSchtroumpfette]

What can a 2 years old pretend? Today my husband and i were talking about our sons pretend play skills and we couldn't be sure about whether he is not very good at it or our expectations too high.
What can/could your DCs do at this age? Also, how long do they continue in a pretending game? Please give us (2 poor first time parents) some rough idea

Imaginative play - that they can do by themselves, creating a whole world, is actually a very sophisticated development and I certainly wouldn't expect a 2 year old to be able to do it. Enjoying playing with things like tools, cups and saucers, dolls etc as props and 'pretending' things with them is much more accessible and dd3 (2.4) does that often and enjoys it - but most 2 year olds won't do this for very long without input from you - drinking the 'tea' etc and you have to find the props that interest them. Dd1 played for hours with her Thomas engines but never touched a doll. Doesn't mean she couldn't 'pretend', just didn't want to pretend that.

dd is nearly 2 and I don't think she really does imaginitve play as such. Its more like what NL says, dd plays with her props with a lo of interaction from me.

She will cuddle her doll, wrap her up, dance with her, brush her teeth. Its more like she's copying what we do with her actually.

My DD was 2 in June and she loves playing with her dolls, changing nappies and trying to dress them, buckle them into the pram etc. She also likes to play with teasets and plays well in the home corner at the playgroup we go to and recently she has started doing impersonations of things and animals (pulling her mouth wide and saying she is a frog, putting an orange bowl on her head and saying she is a carrot, that sort of thing). She plays for a very short time before getting distracted by something else though.

I certainly don't remember my DS being as imaginative at this age as she is, but he did spend hours playing with Thomas trains and track. He also didn't "get" dressing up until he was well past his third birthday, but certainly isn't lacking in imagination now.

Ihere is such a huge variation between individual children though at this age, so I wouldn't worry

How old, exactly? My DS is 2.10 and his pretend play has really taken off recently. When we go for a walk and pass a street sign he always stops and pretends to be an ice-cream seller. We have to pretend to eat it as well.

He also likes being a pirate, a footballer, a fireman, a hairdresser and a doctor. His version of a doctor saws off legs and hammers knees, which hurts.

He has 2 imaginary friends: two tiny pink dragons called Tommy and Harry who he keeps in his trampoline.

Up until fairly recently his pretend play was really about pretending to cook, make cups of tea, teddy bear picnics etc.

I'd say his games go on for about 15 minutes or so at a time and then he goes onto something else.

Oh and I forgot his favourite one: he likes me to pretend to be a bin lorry and he is the bin. I have to lift him with my legs and toss him up and down, emptying the rubbish into the lorry. This is great exercise for my poor tummy and thigh muscles. Actually, quite a lot of his pretend play is bin related.

Thanks Northernlurker, DS is 2.2 actually, he does play with tools, cups, saucers, etc. He pretends drinking from a toy cup, eating a toy cake slice, talking over the phone, becoming a dog on all fours, injecting meds to his grandma, etc etc but he is doing these for short periods of time. I feel like he enjoys more playing with cars, spinning tops, water, balls and marbles or exploring my drawers, wardrobe, perfumes, etc. He sometimes plays with dolls like ELC happyland characters, making them walk, talk, drive or go to doctor too. He never plays with teddies or soft toys though.
Is this normal for his age?

Sounds absolutely normal to me! My older girls are fonder of their soft toys than the 2 yr old tbh.

Oh I have seen the other posts after I replied Northernlurker. Thanks everybody, I think I have given the answers somehow

Ilareggub, when has your son's imaginative play taken off roughly? How was he when he was at mine's age?
LackaDAISYcal, it is good to hear that doing it for short time is normal.
Do you think there is a diffrence between boys and girls in general?

I seem to recall a lot of making tea and stirring tea and serving tea and drinking tea and offering bikkies with my girls; my son liked to pretend he was various sorts of animals, just with sound effects, mostly roaring and barking, no chirping or miowing. And he also morphed into large vehicles, which also roared, and beeped. He liked being superman, but that came later, around 4, and was accompanied by an insistence that he could fly, which had predictably disastrous consequences.

Oh yes, and there were imaginary friends by the busload. The imaginative play with the teamaking seemed to me to go on for hours but in realty probably only lasted for a really long 15 minutes at a time.