My kids love imaginative play and I do feel that it has a big role to play in the formative years.
Having said that, I would not actively force a child to do anything they were not interested in, including imaginative play. My boys love to play based on things they are learning or watching on tv currently.
So current imagination games include Harry Potter (they found an online list of all the spells used and after studying it together for days can now use all of them)
MineCraft (esp Hunger Games)
Frozen - any game has to have the powers variant. Then they are happy.
Powers and Magic. Aiden is convinced magic is real but it's only a power bestowed on the super smart of the world.
HE is happiest when HE gets to control the game and dictate who has what powers etc.
They all have loved at some stage pretending to be an animal, and kitchen play was obsessive for all three of them. Dylan at 3 still is this way. Their grandfather built a playhouse when Aiden was turning 3, and when we moved it got moved, upgraded and enlarged - they all three still use it and the toys inside it.
I encourage imaginative stories, and building/creating to support imagination.
