This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. By age 2, most kids know how to play pretend. They turn their bedrooms into faraway castles and hold make-believe ...

Pretend play that involves uses of the imagination to create a fantasy world or situation can be fun for preschool children, but a new study finds that it is not as crucial to a child's development as ...

In a series of tea party-like experiments, Johns Hopkins University researchers demonstrate for the first time that apes can use their imagination and play pretend, an ability thought to be uniquely ...

Can animals play pretend? It took a tea party with a bonobo to find out. In a set of experiments, a team of researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, presenting the tests as ...

When a child turns a cardboard box into a spaceship, or a stick into a magic wand, it may look like simple fun. But beneath the giggles and dramatic voices, something far more powerful may be ...