Joaqui's imaginative play

Since Joaqui turned two, I have been noticing that our little boy engages more and more into imaginative play, in which he begins to use objects to represent other items. In some children, transition to imaginative play comes around the age of 3, but in Joaqui's case it came earlier. This is one of his favorite toys right now - a cd case. Why? Because it can turn into a lot of his favorite things. ; )

Crane. He is fascinated by cranes on top of buildings ever since he saw one near our subdivision.

Here he moves the cd case and turns it around like a cane moving and would also make crane noises as he moves it.  

Elevator. I was surprised when he thought of this as an elevator. He used to be afraid of elevators, but now he likes to ride on it.

Building. He would say that there is a carpenter on top of the building, as he would see on construction sites. He would also imitate the hammering of a carpenter and says, "Pok! Pok! Pok!"

Cars or buses. Joaqui would say that there are many cars or buses moving and would make sounds of running cars.

And because he sees it as a car, he would try to ride on them. Since he can't, he would say "Hindi kasya Joaqui." (Joaqui won't fit.)

I love this stage of play because I can see that he is ready to take off with his imagination. He never ceases to amaze me on how he can look at the simple things around him. I also notice that he expresses himself through this kind of play, often reliving the experiences he has had, for example, with a barber, a doctor or what he sees us do around the house. Another good thing is that we tend to save on toys because he is more interested in the everyday items around the house. ; )