Smell the Roses
Five-year-old Mai Li decided to tag along with her father when he went to the flower store to purchase flowers for her grandmother. It was her first visit there, and, Mai Li was amazed by the wonderful smell of so many flowers. A pretty woman wearing a dark green apron with large pockets approached Mai Li and her father saying, “Welcome to the Flower Shoppe. May I help you?” As the woman and her father spoke, Mai Li wandered around the crowded shop, peering closely at the colorful flowers and other interesting items. Mai Li’s father called her name and asked if she would like to help choose which color roses to buy her grandmother. Mai Li knew roses could be pink or red but she had had no idea they could be white, or yellow, or that peachy color. “The peachy ones!” she said excitedly. “Grandmother will love the peachy ones.” As she carried the carefully wrapped bouquet of roses out of the shop, she couldn’t help but sink her nose into the rose petals to get another whiff. |
Most likely, Mai Li will soon be telling her mother and grandmother about her experiences at the flower shop and asking them to play flower shop with her. Her family members, who have had more experiences with flowers and flower shops, will help Mai Li enrich her pretend play as they share their knowledge and experience through the sociodramatic play scenario.
Reciprocal learning emerges from shared experiences as group members act as both learners and teachers. During socio-dramatic play, each person learns from all other play partners. Mai Li may not only relive her flower shop experience at home with family; she might also lead neighborhood or school friends in further socio-dramatic play. As a result, Mai Li’s conceptual knowledge of flowers, flower shops, and gardening will grow and her language and vocabulary will be extended (Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990). According to Vygotsky, pretend play naturally places children in the zone of proximal development (ZPD) where they not only receive scaffolding from play partners, but also scaffold others (Berk & Winsler, 1995).