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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I'm not a fan of guns in general and do gun violence prevention work. Initially, I was opposed to having my children play with toy guns, or recreate gun play. I dissuaded it.

In recent years, however, I did hear a child psychologist give a talk about the impact playing "pretend guns". The gist was that children are capable of figuring out what is pretend and what is real. They understand that playing pretend is not violence nor is it trying to really harm someone else. It is imagination at work and they are capable of distinguishing reality from their imaginary play. In all, pretend play outdoors with friends was totally fine and not likely to increase any violent or aggressive tendencies.

She did distinguish the pretend/imaginary play from video games and visual simulation through screen, which studies have shown to blur the lines between the imaginary and reality.

Not sure if that helps you any but I stopped worrying about it. [/quote]

Our 5yo DS has a large arsenal of nerf guns, other kinds of guns (water, pop balls, etc), bow and arrow, and so many swords. If it’s long and slender, it turns into a sword. Our neighbor’s grandson came over to play with DS. I gave them hefty wooden swords with shields. Figured they could “sword fight” by hitting each other’s shields. I stepped back and the next thing I knew they were working together to fight off aliens who had invaded our yard. They pretended to get tied up by the aliens and unable to get their weapons. So they worked together to help each other get out of their pretend ropes.

It was a wonder to watch their imaginations gears turning. This kind of play for kids, especially boys, is so important. And even at a young age, they know the difference between real and pretend. [/quote]

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