ABSTRACT
There are many different ways to categorize play but, however it is done, there is one supremely important kind of play that interrelates with all the others: dramatic play. Dramatic play is the type of play in which children transform themselves and/or their surroundings into something other than what they are. It is through dramatic play that children learn to organize their thinking. They can test out ideas with no one interfering, or saying that such-and-such is 'impossible', or 'wouldn't work'. Six-year-old children are more sustained in their dramatic play and they enjoy making use of available materials as they find the need for them. The open-ended part of the dramatic play, the seating of the audience, the sequence of selling and collecting tickets, even the announcement of the different acts, cast, and so on, these are all unstructured and can be handled. Dramatic play is a crucial ingredient in the consolidation of thinking skills.
