Originally Posted by Joyce:
If it's not violent, as you said it is not, then let them go. It's their way of working things out by using their imagination. Why hinder that? (Not that you are, I'm just saying) Like I say, I would NOT let it get to a point where they are pretending to CAUSE the death, but if they are just pretending to deal with a kitty's death, going to heaven, etc., LET THEM!! To squelch it would be to put a negative stigma on it. And who knows... maybe because of this play-acting, they'll deal with it better when a pet dies, or when Grandma dies!
this is how I see it. But when I hear them playing about killing each other, or screaming "you cant' play because you're dead" it makes me mad. Because the bigger kids kill off the annoying kids so they don't have to play with them.
I sometimes choose to turn away and let them play and other times I say you cannot play like that. It depends which death words, how they are using it, and if it seems natural or wrong.