Pretend play is language practice

By around two, pretend play carries a sequence: the doll wakes, eats, goes out. That structure is the same one that later organises sentences and, eventually, written stories.

Take the role you are given and stay in it. Correcting the logic ends the game; extending it with one more question keeps it going and adds vocabulary.

Keep the props open ended. A wooden block can be a phone, a car or a piece of bread. A plastic phone can only ever be a phone.