Considering another viewpoint
Explore related activities, guides and research. Use an age collection when you want a starting point for your child.
Perspective-taking involves considering a viewpoint other than your own. A player may see a construction from another side, know a clue that someone else has not seen or want something different within a pretend story.
Make the difference concrete
Use a small scene with two characters. One has seen where a parcel was placed; the other has just arrived. Ask what each character knows and what information could help. Or look at the same model from two seats and compare what is visible.
Explore rather than guess a hidden answer
A character’s wishes or feelings may have more than one plausible interpretation. Ask what in the story supports an idea, and let the child change their mind. Adults should avoid claiming to know what another person thinks from one facial expression.
Keep personal disclosure optional. A child can point, move a character or choose between story possibilities instead of describing their own experiences.
Keep the purpose bounded
These are opportunities to consider information and viewpoints during play. Observational research about pretend play does not prove that our games create lasting empathy or social change.
Try How Might the Character Feel? or One Event Two Viewpoints, with prompts in the cooperative pretend-play guide.
Background research
Read the study context and limitations. These sources are not tests of our products.
