He turned to Mike, the doctor, and complained: "Doctor, I am sick. I have a sore throat." Mike leaned forward to check on his symptoms and asked sympathetically: "Is it really painful?" Yan pretended to be very sad and replied by modifying his voice accordingly: "Yes." He showed his throat to the imaginary doctor. After a close examination Mike confirmed that his patient's throat was indeed very red. However, he reassured the patient that it was nothing serious and the cure was on the way: "Just be patient, it is not serious enough to worry about. I will help you out." Here I could clearly notice that children were trying to imitate the actions they had witnessed others doing. They imitated adult behavior and tried out social roles in their play (Davies, 2004; Hughes, 2010).
This dramatic play also promoted their communication abilities, social skills and interactions with others since they were required to use words wisely and respond in an appropriate fashion. From the language development stand point, children were able to share ideas, use new words and expand their vocabulary. They also practiced the words they heard adults say. For example, Mike's next recommendation was based on something he heard at home: "Do you have baking soda at home? When someone has a sore throat it is necessary to gargle with baking soda as my mother always does." The doctor then suggested: "If you do not have it, go to the pharmacy and buy it. If it gets worse, go to the hospital. I will call our hospital to check if you can be accepted." Then Mike turned to Miri (playing the role of a nurse) and added in a serious business-like tone: "Take care of the bear until I make arrangements with the hospital." Then the doctor pretended to be on the phone: "Is this the hospital? One of my patients is a sick bear, he has a sore throat. Do you have space for him?" Polly, the hospital nurse, answered: "We will not have space until two days from now.