DD just started reception & hates 'free' playtime

[spicegirl13]

My DD has just started reception, she's 4.5. She says she hates lunchtime as the playtime is too long & she doesn't like playing in the playground. She's never been great at imaginative play and I think this is the reason as there's no 'structured activities' for her.

I confess that I've been a bit too much of a helicopter parent & also doing too many pre-school structured activities so now she doesn't know how to play on her own, make up her own games and entertain herself. Going to make sure I don't make the same mistake with DD2.

But I don't know what to do to help her, is it too late?! How do I foster some imaginative play at home without her crying & refusing?

I'd be grateful for any ideas, thank you!

Doesn't have to be imaginative. My kids play lots of stuff in the playground involving no imagination (ds1 has asd so important for him!) such as tag, skipping, football, cartwheels, climbing equipment and so on.

In terms of imaginative games an easy thing to do is copy any favourite tv shows or dd spends a lot of time building homes for bugs in the playground.

There are some lovely books on Amazon about how to play with your child.

How did she get on at preschool-with the other kids and free play?

At pre-school they had lots of outside equipment, slides, climbing frames, trikes etc & they do t have these at school(well they do have some climbing frame/swing equipment but they take it in turns with other classes so can't go on it every day) so she never mentioned it at pre-school.

Will have a look at some books, thank you & mention tag, skipping etc

I used to be a parent helper in reception and there were always a few kids who wanted to hold my hand at playtime as they found it a bit overwhelming..they soon found the confidence and ran off with the othre children.

Does she have any friends? Having friends who lead imaginative play would be useful to her as she can "learn" how to do it.
Does your playground have organised games like "It" or "What's the time Mr Wolf" or equipment like skipping ropes? Could you teach her some clapping games that she could do with a friend?

Ahh thanks ggirl, I can image her sticking with the grown ups.

They've just started football on a Tuesday lunchtime & ballet on a Thursday lunchtime (30 mins out of a 80 minute lunchtime) & she's asked to do both of these. I'm just a bit worried that she'll get quite tired doing both of them though. But it might help her get through the rest of the week, knowing she's got some structure but also some free play on the other days

Thanks Ender, some more good ideas there. Not sure about it or Mr Wolf, I'll ask her. She's got 2 good girl friends in her class so I'm sure that they're all learning together & hopefully she'll get more confident as the term goes on. Will definitely do some clapping games & songs, I loved doing them at school!