Pretend Play

[LostMyMarbles]

What about adding in real materials?

Take leftover boxes from real food and tape them up so the kids can pretend to pour Cheerios from a real Cheerios box. Add a pizza box from a local pizzaria. An empty honey bear, egg carton, milk carton, or ice cream tub also works as long as you clean them out.

What about a "laundry" area? Have a basket with small dishtowels, washcloths, and fun colored socks. The kids can practice their folding and sorting skills by matching socks, folding towels/washcloths, and putting the laundry "away" in their appropriate places (A small drawer set with pictures to show where each item goes or a few labeled baskets would work well here).

Rinse out your plastic coffee shop cups (and/or grab extra paper ones) so the dramatic play area can transform from a kitchen or grocery store to a coffee shop. Add in some play pastries and a table where the kids can "work" on laptops (they don't even need to be functional ones- you can make laptops out of cardboard).

Get fake flowers and plastic flowerpots and vases to set up a flower/gardening shop. Add small gardening/sand tools, some floppy sun hats, gloves, and baskets with fake fruits/veggies.

Get some inexpensive pet toys, stuffed animals, pet food dishes, leashes/collars, and some tanks/cages (a lot of these things can be found at a Dollar store) and turn your dramatic play area into a pet shop. Add some brushes/combs and bows to add in a pet grooming station or create a little obstacle course as a "training" area. You can also throw in some real and toy doctor supplies and your pet store is now a Vet's office.


I feel too many people limit dramatic play to just "kitchen." Every school I've worked at only had a kitchen set and related supplies. There were never any materials to transform the dramatic play center into anything else.

Love the pet idea!!

I buy Halloween costumes at yard sales. Princess, fireman, Star Wars, TMNT, etc. I have a full length mirror mounted on the wall and command hooks near so they can hang them up after play.

I got rid of my kitchen set, step 2 kind. They tried using it as a climber instead of a kitchen. No interest.

My kids play bureaty shop a lot.