dramatic play
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Try a Baby Food Taste Test
On Monday I shared some of my favorite items to add to your doll-themed dramatic play center. If you really want to start a great conversation, why not try a baby food taste test?! This is a great way to get your preschoolers talking about the textures of different foods, and to compare and contrast the purees with the solid foods. While it hasn’t been all that long since most of your preschoolers were eating baby food regularly, they’ll never believe you when you tell them this. It’s a good idea to start with foods that they are going to be willing to try – fruits are generally a safe…
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Baby Doll Dramatic Play
When we get to the middle of winter, the last thing that I want to do is pull out the same dramatic play materials that we’ve been using all year. That means I have to get a little more resourceful to make my dramatic play centers interesting. Now you can definitely buy some amazing printables and supplies at the Dollar Tree to add to your dramatic play area, and I’ve done that too, but I’m talking about using what you’ve already got. Baby dolls were always popular in my classroom, and I tried not to keep them out all of the time so that it was special when they were…
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Friday Freebie – Editable Boarding Pass
Happy Friday! My travel posts all week have me itching to go somewhere, I might have to make a day trip this weekend! Here is an incredible freebie for your travel week – this super-high quality Boarding Pass from A First for Everything can be edited to reflect the destination, the name of the traveler, and the name of the airline. How fun is that?! Make sure to download yours and have a great weekend!
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Travel-themed dramatic play props
Are you in vacation mode yet?! Me too, and since it isn’t going to happen for real, I figured I’d take a pretend trip (you can download my free travel lesson plan here!). I fully believe that children need the opportunity to explore authentic materials when engaged in dramatic play, so here is a great big list of travel-themed props that you can add to the classroom for your travel or vacation week. Suitcases Duffel bags Cosmetic or toiletry bags Empty travel bottles (Shampoo, conditioner, etc.) Tote bags Luggage tags Travel pillows Boarding passes Passports Travel magazines and brochures Cameras Binoculars Postcards Clothing Flip flops Maps Hotel room keys Sunglasses…
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DIY: Easy Dramatic Play Cookbook
I have the easiest DIY ever for you today! I always struggle with making materials for the dramatic play area because I know how much wear and tear they are going to take, but this one is perfect, I encourage teachers to add written materials to their dramatic play areas, and cookbooks are an easy fix for any kitchen or restaurant theme. You could find cookbooks at Goodwill or garage sales, but I really love cookbooks that have plenty of pictures too, and these can be harder to find. So for this “cookbook” I just used the recipes from the backs of boxes! There are a couple of ways that…
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Week of the Young Child – Taco Tuesday
Happy Week of the Young Child! I thought I’d celebrate by sharing some fun ideas to help you follow along with NAEYC’s themed days. For more info about the Week of the Young Child celebration you can visit NAEYC’s website, but I’m going to jump right into the fun! Taco Tuesday is about eating healthy, and the minute that I saw Taco Tuesday on NAEYC’s list, I thought of this book: My kiddos are in love with Build a Burrito by Denise Vega (it’s out of print but I was able to find a couple of copies on Amazon). It’s a counting book all about building the perfect burrito, with text…
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Ice Cream Dramatic Play
Last week was all about camping, and this week is Ice Cream! If I could only pick two dramatic play centers to set up all summer long they would be a camping trip and an ice cream parlor. A camping trip is a great adventure, and an ice cream parlor is a dream come true! I’ve rounded up some great ideas for your classroom ice cream parlor; Maureen over at Spell Out Loud shares her ideas for ice cream scented play dough, and a super cute printable menu. Lindsey from So Easy Being Green shows you how to make an ice cream parlor out of a cardboard box. Sue over at One…
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Camping fun in the dramatic play center
This month is all about camping for me, I’m going on three different camping trips and we’re gearing up for our first one this weekend, so I thought I’d share the fun here at Preschool Ponderings. I love to do camping activities with preschoolers because some of them are familiar with camping – they’ve gone with their families, or they’ve at roasted marshmallows in their backyard – while others have no experience with the concept and are over the moon excited about camping in the classroom. I like to introduce fun new topics like this by including related materials in the dramatic play space. This gives the children the opportunity…
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Reggio Inspired Dramatic Play Centers
A couple of weeks ago I gathered photos of some incredible Reggio-inspired Math and Writing centers to share with you. These have been some of the most popular posts that I’ve done, so I thought I would do a few more centers this week. I shared some incredible science centers, today I want to show you some inspiring dramatic play centers. My students favorite materials to use in the dramatic play space are; Any kind of costume Authentic items related to the play topic (old cameras, real stethoscopes, old cell phones, hair dryers, bakery boxes, etc.) Related printables, such as pretend library cards, shopping lists, airline tickets, recipe cards, etc. There are a few…
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Foam food for dramatic play
Last week I posted my plans for our holiday cookie party at school. I’ve been working on prepping some of the materials for our cookie shop dramatic play area , which means adding to my collection of foam cookies. I wanted to show you some of the cookies that I made before, and the new varieties that I made specifically for our party. I made all of these with sheets of craft foam, and they couldn’t be easier. Making your own food with craft food is a great alternative to buying play food because it s really easy to customize, and it’s all flat, so it stores better than most…
