Try A Maybe
Extend and expand play by guiding a child to elaborate on ideas.
Learning Seeds Engagement Strategies
Comic Strip by Cynthia Yuan Cheng
Challenging Moment: Engagement in pretend play can falter when peers struggle to contribute their new ideas to the play theme.
A Strategy to Try: “Try A Maybe”
Stimulate imagination and prompt more confident expression by encouraging a child to “try a maybe” about a detail or aspect of the play theme. "I wonder why that happened/how that happened. Let's come up with some maybes." Start a “maybe” sentence with a leading tone that prompts the child to propose ideas: "You could say Maaayyyybee it'sssss......"
What Happens: This prompt refreshes imaginative play. It can elicit from the participants — first one child, then other peers in turn — new ideas that keep the play going.
