Who am I today? Who will I be tomorrow? In a single morning of dramatic play, I can be a dozen different characters—a pirate, a parent, a planet.
How lucky I am, especially if I am a preschooler bouncing into school each day with an open heart, an open mind, and a spirit ready for anything. I am here to receive. My synapses spark, my neurons fire on overdrive, and I eagerly lean into whatever awaits. The world is a gift I am learning to unwrap.
Yet I am not here only to take. Woven into my very being is the need to give and to support. I cannot exist in a vacuum of receiving. Part of my DNA ensures I also send out signals—of kindness, of collaboration—so we can build worlds together, for the betterment of us all.
What a profound ask this is, in a world beyond these walls that often feels neither friendly nor familial. As the founder of this preschool, I am convinced that no matter the turbulence of the “big wide world,” a united nations does exist. It lives and breathes its principles right here, in these small, capable hands and boundless hearts.
Young children don’t just practice pretend play; they inhabit it. This desire to imagine, to step outside ourselves, is profoundly human—it is neurotypical. It resides within us all. And this same impulse can drive us, motivate us, and propel us to achieve great things.
Great things, not necessarily measured in external trophies, but in the internal landscape: the courage found, the empathy nurtured, the dream realized. Let us focus on that inner magic—the excitement of discovering who we are and having the freedom to live our own dreams.
That is the ultimate dramatic play. And it is happening right now.
