Dramatic play is an integral part of living
for the young child; it is as natural and spontaneous as the child
himself. During his second year the child likes to demonstrate
what each of the animals in his picture book says. He enjoys
simple finger plays with easy motions and words he understands
and can say. During the third year, dramatic play takes on
many forms. The child may be a dog racing and barking, a coal
deliveryman delivering blocks from his little wagon, a hostess
serving make-believe tea, a mother making a birthday cake of
moist sand, or a father going to work in the morning. The play
is not entirely realistic because time is not a problem to the
child at this age. If Father returns from before the family
has finished breakfast no one is disturbed.

Dramatic play is make-believe in which a child relives fa-
miliar experiences and explores new ones ( 21 ). When he plays
doctor, Sunday School, store, or house he demonstrates his inter-
pretation of his experience. In his dramatic play he "tries on
life" through playing Daddy, the policeman, or Grandmother
and gaining some concept of how it feels to be someone else.
Since dramatic play has no plot and no required sequence, it
can begin anywhere and end anywhere. The play may be soli-
tary play, as in the case of the three-year-old who makes cakes
in the sand and serves them at a party. It may be the solitary

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