Ingredients:
- Pretend toys
- Dress-up clothes/costumes
- Pretend or real food
- Paper
- Crayons
- Empty boxes
- Magazines
Recipe for Playful Learning!
Great activity for one child to do alone or to encourage play with multiple aged children!
STEP 1: Ask your kids who they would trust in their home or community to help them with certain problems or situations.
“Who would you call if you were home and heard a strange noise?”
“Who would you ask if you needed help with your homework?”
“Who would you call if you saw smoke in your house?”
“Who would you ask to help you if your cat were stuck in a tree?”
“Who would you call if you wanted food for dinner?”
“Who would you ask if you wanted to play a game?”
STEP 2: Compile the list of people around the community and set up an area for your kids to play “neighborhood”. Every time you play, set up a table or two to represent a different place where your kids can participate in dramatic play (i.e. – grocery store, post office, doctor’s office, school, library, restaurant, etc.).
TIP: Use household items for props. If you do not have props or supplies for this, have you kids draw colored pictures of items or cut them out from magazines/print from internet. Let their imaginations do all the work!
Skills to Practice: Speaking, Storytelling, Vocabulary, Imagination, Inference, Observation, Role and Pretend Play