{"h1":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 900–1000: Next Steps","faq":[{"a":"Yes — it is a strong, reassuring result that suggests your child's imaginative and symbolic play is developing well for their stage. The next step is simply to keep nurturing it while continuing routine developmental checks.","q":"Is a Pretend-Play score of 900–1000 a good result?"},{"a":"Follow your child's lead and add one new idea to their story, stretch single actions into little sequences, encourage roles and feelings, offer open-ended props like boxes and scarves, and invite other children to play along.","q":"How can I help my child's pretend-play grow further?"},{"a":"A strength in pretend-play is encouraging, but development is a whole picture. Keep up routine checks and raise any concerns about eye contact, shared play or language with a clinician at a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre.","q":"Does a strong score in one area mean everything is fine?"}],"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-900-1000-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 900–1000 — What Are the Next Steps?","entity":{"key":"pretend-play-toddler","kind":"ability","name":"Pretend-Play","slug":null},"lenses":[{"kind":"stakeholder","label":"Parent","value":"parent"},{"kind":"domain","label":"Social","value":"social"},{"kind":"intent","label":"Support","value":"support"},{"kind":"lifecycle","label":"Measure","value":"measure"},{"kind":"route","label":"Book-Assessment","value":"book-assessment"},{"kind":"score_band","label":"As 900 1000","value":"as_900_1000"},{"kind":"empowerment","label":"Mainstream Inclusion","value":"mainstream_inclusion"}],"parent":{"key":"abilities","label":"Abilities"},"related":[{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-500-600-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 500–600 — Next Steps"},{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-700-800-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 700–800: Your Next Steps"},{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-600-700-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 600–700: Your Next Steps"},{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-800-900-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 800–900 — Next Steps for Parents"},{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-300-400-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 300–400 — Next Steps"},{"lang":"en","slug":"my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-200-300-what-are-the-next-steps","title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 200–300: Your Next Steps"}],"summary":"A Pretend-Play AbilityScore® of 900–1000 is a strong, reassuring result suggesting healthy imaginative and symbolic play. The next step is to keep nurturing it through child-led, story-rich play while continuing whole-picture developmental checks. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.","answer_md":"*A Pretend-Play score in the 900–1000 band is wonderful news — your child's imagination is blossoming beautifully, and now the joy is in growing it further.*\n\n## In short\nA Pretend-Play AbilityScore® in the **900–1000 band** is a strong, reassuring result — it suggests your child is using imagination, role-play and symbolic thinking in a way that is developing well for their stage. The next step is simply to **keep nurturing and stretching** this strength through rich, playful interaction, while continuing to watch the whole picture of your child's development. Because pretend-play is a powerful window into social communication and language, growing it well supports many other skills at once.\n\n## What this means and how to grow it\nPretend-play — feeding a doll, making a block \"fly\", pretending a banana is a phone — is one of the richest signs of healthy **social, language and cognitive growth**. A score in this band tells us your child is thinking symbolically and connecting ideas through play. Here is how to build on it:\n\n- **Follow your child's lead.** Join the story they invent rather than directing it — add one new idea (\"Oh no, is teddy hungry too?\") and see where they take it.\n- **Stretch the storyline.** Move from single actions (stirring a pot) towards little sequences (cook, serve, eat, wash up) and pretend problems to solve.\n- **Add roles and feelings.** Encourage taking turns being the doctor, the customer, the parent — this grows perspective-taking and empathy.\n- **Offer open-ended props.** Boxes, scarves, blocks and simple figures invite more imagination than single-use toys.\n- **Invite other children in.** Shared pretend-play with peers or siblings stretches cooperation, negotiation and language.\n\nA strength here is a lovely foundation — celebrate it, play often, and let it carry language and social skills along with it.\n\n## When to keep an eye out\nA strong score in one area is encouraging, but development is a whole picture. Continue your routine developmental checks, and seek a review if you notice your child rarely makes eye contact, struggles to share attention or play *with* others, has fewer words than expected for their age, or if pretend-play seems to narrow or disappear. These observations belong with a clinician, not an app.\n\n## The Pinnacle way\nAbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional — never from an online figure alone. Our clinicians read this band alongside your child's whole developmental profile to confirm the strength and shape any next steps. Learn [how the AbilityScore® is measured](/ask/what-is-the-abilityscore-and-how-is-it-calculated), explore how play and communication grow together through [speech and language support](https://www.pinnacleblooms.org/top-speech-therapy-center-india-proven-improvement-rate), or [start here](/) to find your nearest centre.\n\n## Trusted sources\nAmerican Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) guidance on the role of play in healthy development; CDC developmental milestones for social and pretend-play; ASHA guidance on play and early language.\n\n**Next step —** Want to confirm this strength and map the next stage of your child's play and language? [Book a developmental check with a Pinnacle clinician](/).\n\nThis is general information, not a diagnosis — individual assessment and diagnosis require an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.","canonical":"https://pinnacleblooms.org/ask/my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-900-1000-what-are-the-next-steps","editorial":{"reviewed_at":"2026-06-11T20:12:18.613642+00:00","reviewed_by":null,"developed_by":"SETU Consortium · Pinnacle Blooms Network"},"alternates":[{"href":"https://pinnacleblooms.org/ask/my-child-s-pretend-play-abilityscore-is-900-1000-what-are-the-next-steps","lang":"en","indexable":true}],"dimensions":[{"key":"abilities","label":"Abilities"}],"meta_title":"Pretend-Play AbilityScore 900–1000: Next Steps","meta_robots":"index, follow, max-image-preview:large","everyday_tip":"Join your child's pretend-play and add just one new twist — \"Is teddy thirsty too?\" — then follow where their imagination takes the story.","published_at":"2026-06-10T11:40:00.188566+00:00","reading_paths":[{"key":"understand","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-pretend-play-in-child-development","title":"Pretend-Play in Child Development","reason":"Same topic"},{"lang":"en","slug":"what-does-pretend-play-represent-developmentally-and-when-is-a-delay-in-it-clinically-significant","title":"What Pretend-Play represents and when delay is significant","reason":"Same topic"},{"lang":"en","slug":"which-icf-functioning-domain-does-pretend-play-map-to-in-early-childhood","title":"Which ICF Functioning Domain Does Pretend-Play Map To?","reason":"Same topic"}],"label":"Understand the subject","total":3},{"key":"signs","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"what-does-a-delay-in-pretend-play-mean-for-my-child","title":"What Does a Delay in Pretend-Play Mean for My Child?","reason":"Same topic"}],"label":"Recognise signs & concerns","total":1},{"key":"assess","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"how-is-pretend-play-assessed","title":"How is 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simple daily activities help build a child's Pretend-Play?","reason":"Same topic"}],"label":"At home & in everyday life","total":3}],"what_to_watch":"Watch the whole picture: little eye contact, difficulty sharing attention or playing with others, fewer words than expected for age, or pretend-play that narrows or fades — raise these at a developmental check.","authority_links":[{"url":"https://www.healthychildren.org","label":"AAP HealthyChildren.org — the power of play in development"},{"url":"https://www.cdc.gov/child-development","label":"CDC — developmental milestones"},{"url":"https://www.asha.org","label":"ASHA — play and early language development"}],"last_reviewed_at":"2026-06-10T11:40:00.188566+00:00","meta_description":"A Pretend-Play AbilityScore of 900–1000 is a strong result. 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