Play - Changing It Up

My dramatic play area has seen lots of change this year. It's been in one area, but it's had 6 different play opportunities.  I like changing up the play opportunities because each new play center has brought new materials and new play opportunities for my students.  Creating my own visuals has allowed me to customize each of my dramatic play centers to meet my student's interests. I have a dramatic play bundle with 7 different dramatic play centers in my TPT store.

You might be asking yourself, where do the props come from? I've collected most of the props from my house, family members, co-workers and friends. I've also purchased some props and containers. The Dollar Tree is one of my favorite places to find props and materials for school. They have a great selection of different colored containers and baskets that can be reused to create your different dramatic play areas. Several of my co-workers are always surprised at the stuff I find and can't understand why I love The Dollar Tree. I love it because it's cheap and the possibilities are endless! You just have to go in with an open mind and an eye for creativity. Amazon is another place I've found props from. If you can't find it at home and The Dollar Tree doesn't have it, try Amazon, they have everything!  Yes, it's more expensive but if I need something to finish out an area, Amazon is sure to have it and they deliver it directly to my house.  :)  Another option is to ask parents to lend or donate items for your dramatic play area.

Play is the main goal in my dramatic play center but that doesn't mean I can't add in some literacy, math or science. Using props and visuals creates an opportunity to expose the children to print, writing and math/science concepts. They are having so much fun, it's still just play to them and that is alright with me. You might notice the photos are just of the dramatic play area and don't show the students playing. I'm a special education teacher who works in an integrated classroom. Confidentiality and protecting privacy are important. I don't share pictures of my students using materials or the dramatic play sets because I wouldn't want someone sharing pictures of my child, even with the faces blurred or obstructed. Besides pictures with blurred faces are a little creepy. 

-Oh Miss Jill

Dramatic Play Area

Most preschoolers like the dramatic play area. I typically I've had my dramatic play area set up as a kitchen or a dress up area. It was BORING! The kids mostly dumped out the food and it felt like there was very little productive play. It was also a big mess to clean up at the end of play time.

As a preschool teacher I know play is important. Last summer I read a book about the importance of play in early childhood and decided I wanted to change up my dramatic play area. I brainstormed and planned out a few dramatic play centers. I love to craft and create so I gathered props and materials and made visuals. My first dramatic play center was a Farmer's Market. It was a huge hit! I loved it and better yet the kids loved it. I started seeing more productive play and the labels helped make clean up easier.


I decided to create some more dramatic play centers for my classroom. I have used the same area and furniture to create several different dramatic play opportunities this year.

This was our baby center which was set up to teach and encourage doll play.

We set up a science lab in our dramatic play area.

 Our science lab allowed us to explore science materials and try experiments.

 We set up a vet center this year too.

We even created these crates for our animals.

Our construction zone was a lot of fun. We stocked it with different building materials and props.

During our fairytale unit we set up a fairytale land, complete with a pop up castle tent and lots of fairytale dress up props. This was so much fun and encouraged tons of fabulous pretend play. There were dragons, knights and witches casting magic spells on the land.

 Right now my classroom is set up as a restaurant. That means food. The good news is the play has more productive, meaning there is less food dumping then when I just had a kitchen area.

We've even talked about the jobs people have in a restaurant. Chef, waiter/waitress, cashier, dishwasher, customer, etc. This week we're going to try doing a mock restaurant experience with real food where the children get to try all five of these jobs out first hand. Wish us luck!

This year I've been building up my dramatic play area. I've collected some great props and have lots of visuals to use. The visuals can be found in my TPT store. Of course there are lots of dramatic play sets available for purchase or you can always make your own. Just have fun with it and create centers your children are interested in. You'll be glad you did.

The Farm Stand is Open

We've been exploring fall topics such as leaves, apples and pumpkins in my classroom this month. Today we transformed our kitchen area into a farm stand. The students will have the opportunity to play with and shop for fruits & vegetables at our farm stand. I used a variety of tutorials to create the felt fruit and vegetables, then paired them up with my farm stand visuals. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to see the kids using this center. The farm stand visuals can be found here in my TPT shop.