Imitation and Symbolic Representation and Play

Copying you as you wipe the table, holding a toy as a phone, or turning a block into a car lets children bring familiar life into their own actions. Imitation is more than following, and pretend play is more than entertainment: both help children revisit experience, understand situations, and practice interactions that are still new.

0–9 months: Join in through back-and-forth imitation. You copy me, then I copy you: repeated actions create interaction and show children that they can affect another person.
9–18 months: Recreate familiar life. Children can repeat an action they saw earlier, and toys can stand for real objects in play.
18 months–3 years: Express experience through substitute objects and connected scenes. Multi-step imitation, role-play, and symbolic meaning begin to come together in more complete representations of everyday life.

After age 3, imitation and representation remain foundations for imagination, language, and other learning. This page highlights early changes; it does not mean children outgrow pretend play.

Below are selected skills to notice at specific ages. Age is a developmental reference point; understand each skill alongside what you see in everyday life.

6 months

Engages in reciprocal imitation games, such as patting on a table or handing an object back and forth.

What to notice: Does your baby notice your action and respond with a similar one, continuing a back-and-forth exchange? Look for mutual imitation, not an exact copy of a sequence.

How to support it: Back-and-forth imitation connects what children see with what they do and lets them experience the pleasure of being answered. Begin by copying a sound or movement your baby already makes, wait for them to notice, then add a small variation.

Keep in mind: Keep it participatory rather than turning the demonstration into a test.

12 months

Imitates what other people did earlier, such as wiping up a spill or closing a door.

What to notice: After an adult stops demonstrating, does your child reproduce an action they saw earlier? Notice whether they bring retained experience into action, not only whether they copy in the moment.

How to support it: Imitation gradually extends across time. Demonstrate clear, useful actions in daily life, invite rather than pressure participation, and leave natural opportunities to reproduce them later.

Keep in mind: Respond to what your child retained without requiring an immediate, exact, or complete copy.

15 months

Uses toy objects in ways similar to the real objects they represent, such as talking on a toy phone.

What to notice: Does your child use a toy according to the real object's function, such as making a call or cooking? Notice the representational relationship rather than how realistic the prop looks.

How to support it: Children begin to connect toys with familiar objects and replay their uses. Follow your child's action by joining the role, model a familiar exchange, then wait for them to continue.

Keep in mind: Do not correct the play because the object is not real; the key is what it represents.

18 months

Imitates everyday actions of others, such as pretending to feed a doll or stuffed toy.

What to notice: Does your child bring familiar self-care or caregiving actions into pretend play, such as caring for a doll? Notice whether they are representing lived experience rather than simply handling props.

How to support it: Pretend play lets children move from participating in everyday life to representing it. Model one simple action from a familiar routine, respond to your child's intention, and leave space for them to develop the scene.

Keep in mind: A complete story or standard script is not necessary.

2 years (24 months)

Imitates more complex actions (adult actions involving multiple steps) now or at a later time, such as getting spoons and forks to set a table.

What to notice: Can your child connect several observed actions in imitation rather than repeating only one small step? Notice the relationship among the actions, not whether the sequence is as long as possible.

How to support it: Multi-step imitation requires retaining both actions and order in service of a purpose. Make the steps of a familiar task visible, briefly explain what each does, and prompt only the part where your child gets stuck.

Keep in mind: Avoid continuous instructions that hide how much they can organize on their own.

Uses objects as symbols to represent other objects during pretend play, such as using blocks for toy cars or trucks.

What to notice: Does your child clearly use one object as if it were another and continue playing in line with that meaning? Notice symbolic substitution, not merely a resemblance between two objects.

How to support it: Representation frees play from requiring realistic props. First understand what the object means to your child, then join as a play partner; demonstrate one substitute use only when helpful.

Keep in mind: The same object may represent different things in different games, so do not limit it to its everyday function.

Understands that some symbols have meaning, such as a sign or a drawing.

What to notice: After seeing a sign or picture, can your child use it to understand what to do? Notice that the symbol carries information; reading words or naming it accurately is not required.

How to support it: Symbols gain meaning through their relationship to people, objects, and events. Explain what a sign or picture means in a real situation, observe how your child uses the information, and add clarification when needed.

Keep in mind: Recognizing a few signs does not by itself mean a child can read.

2½ years (30 months)

Imitates someone else's words, signs, or conversation now or at a later time, such as in pretend play or on a toy phone.

What to notice: In an appropriate everyday or pretend context, does your child reproduce ways of speaking they have heard? Notice the representation of communication experience, not only vocabulary size or pronunciation.

How to support it: Language children hear becomes material for organizing action and roles. Model natural, respectful, back-and-forth conversation, join the pretend scene, and respond to your child's meaning.

Keep in mind: Leave room to change the words rather than requiring memorized lines or an exact adult script.

Acts out routines using toys and other materials as props, such as setting toy dishes and cups on a table or pretending to shop for groceries.

What to notice: Can your child use props to act out a familiar sequence such as shopping or cooking, linking roles with actions? Notice how play organizes life experience, not how many occupations they can name.

How to support it: Connected pretend scenes bring observation, memory, and representation together. Enrich real-life experience first, then take one role in the game, demonstrate a missing step, and return to being responsive.

Keep in mind: Respect your child's revisions instead of turning the scene into a procedure test.

3 years (36 months)

Uses pretend play to try out social rules or solutions to social problems, such as ways to respond to stressful situations.

What to notice: When a character faces a social difficulty, does your child act out a possible response or solution? Trying it in pretend play does not mean they can already use it skillfully in a real conflict.

How to support it: Pretend play offers a lower-pressure place to rehearse interaction. Through a character, model expressing a need, asking for help, or negotiating; respond to your child's idea and let the story continue.

Keep in mind: Do not deliberately recreate distressing experiences or treat the pretend outcome as proof of real-world mastery.

Sources and notes

Better Parenting’s child-development framework draws in part on the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five. For this pathway, you can also review Head Start’s Imitation and Symbolic Representation and Play Effective Practice Guide. Official framework sources inform domain, sub-domain, goal, and developmental-progression terminology where applicable. Better Parenting independently organizes the parent-facing What to notice and How to support it explanations and connects them with its own activity library.

The ELOF itself is not a curriculum, assessment, or checklist. Better Parenting’s Skill Assessment and Growth Path are Better Parenting product features, not Head Start assessment tools.

Skill wording and age references on this page come from the Better Parenting child-development framework. A child may show different behaviors in different situations, so understand these examples alongside everyday experience rather than treating one activity as a judgment of an entire sub-domain.

This page helps you understand what you can observe and how you can offer support. To explore your child's current position in this sub-domain, open the corresponding Growth Path in the Better Parenting app and use the Skill Assessment.

Better Parenting Content Team | Updated September 2, 2026