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At ages 3-4 preschoolers discover the fun of playing with, not just beside, other children, and begin to understand the benefits of sharing and behaving kindly. Using more complex language, your child may be ready to extend an interaction with conversation. By offering toys and play materials that encourage communication and relationships, you help pave the way for sociability.

Using a toy kitchen is great for social play

Somehow, there are never too many chefs in a play kitchen. Children willingly take directions from each other and, when newcomers appear, happily expand their imaginative scenes to fit all. Love of food and cooking is the common denominator that keeps kitchen play fun. As children take on different roles and tasks, from taking guests’ orders to cooking, they also try out new descriptive and expressive words and “flavor” make-believe dialogues with inflections, humor and intrigue. Just as your real kitchen invites sociability, kitchen toys you provide give your child countless opportunities for language development, self-expression in eating and cooking, and social play.

Medical kits are great for empathy

Toy medical kits invite preschoolers to go beyond themselves and play the caretaker, interacting with “sick” animals, dolls, parents and siblings. Your child may need a few hints to get started. First, check to see if your child recognizes the play instruments and knows how they’re used; although many of them have realistic details, they usually look slightly different from professional equipment. “This is how this thermometer looks,” you can explain. In a quiet room, make sure you can hear the stethoscope before letting your child listen. Then let your child take it from there, as you volunteer for a checkup. By giving your child toys that promote interactive play, you make your child’s first forays into sociability fun.

Art opens new avenue of expression

Often your child’s early artwork may be a mystery to you. Body parts might be few. Experiments with colors or patterns could result in a single blob of color. For your child, however, the painting or drawing may tell a definite story using simple representational figures. When your child proudly shows you a new picture, rather than ask, “What is that?” — and risk your child feeling that you didn’t get it — start with a general descriptive comment and an open-ended question: “I see you used lots of color (or swirls or filled up the page). Can you tell me about your picture?” By showing this interest, you’ll help your child feel good about self-expression.