Teaching "Imaginary Objects" Symbolic Play to Young Children with Autism.

Three boys with autism learned to pretend with imaginary objects. The trainer asked intraverbal questions like, "What can we pretend this spoon is?" The kids had to answer with new ideas, then act them out.

The team used a multiple-baseline design. They started the training at different times for each boy. This showed the teaching, not luck, caused the new play skills.

All three boys quickly learned to use imaginary objects. They kept the skill after the sessions stopped. One boy even used the skill in new toys without any extra teaching.

Free-play time showed more symbolic play for every child. The intraverbal training spread to real play moments.

Lee et al. (2020) ran almost the same study one year later. They swapped "imaginary objects" for "object-substitution" questions. Both teams saw the same good results. This gives you confidence the method works across tiny wording changes.

Ptomey et al. (2021) taught the same imaginary-object skill with short videos instead of questions. Kids still learned, kept, and generalized the play. You now have two tools—words and videos—that hit the same target.

Agana et al. (2025) took the opposite road. They started with real objects first, then moved to toys. The 2019 paper starts with words and jumps straight to pretend. Together they show you can enter pretend play from either door—real items or language prompts.

If a child can answer, "What can we pretend this is?" with five different ideas, he is ready to play. You do not need fancy toys or long drills. Five-minute intraverbal games during snack or cleanup can build symbolic play that lasts and spreads. Try it next session: hold a block, ask the question, and praise any new answer.