You've Got Mail

Last week we discussed the value and benefits of dramatic play in a child's life.

 

I would like to share a spontaneous dramatic play adventure that I experienced  recently with my grandson.  This scenario is shared with you to illustrate just how

easy, fast and wonderful dramatic play can be.

 

We arrived home and entered the garage.  My grandson noticed the Little Tikes car and wanted to go for a spin.  (a tricycle or any riding toy would work for this activity).  The car was stored in a cardboard box laying on its side that served as the car's "garage".   As my grandson drove in circles around the inside of the garage, the wheels in my head began to turn.  I grabbed a cloth shopping bag from my vehicle, a handful of junk mail( including the envelopes) from the recycle bin and several empty card board boxes that were headed to the trash.  There was a stack of plastic five gallon buckets in one corner which I set  around the garage upside down.  On the top of each bucket I placed an empty cardboard box with the opening toward the center of the garage.  The fabric shopping bag was filled with junk mail and handed to my grandson.  I told him he could deliver the mail and be a postal carrier!  At first he needed some verbal suggestions of ideas as he drove around and placed mail in the boxes.  He headed back to the post office bay (the "garage")  to gather more mail.  After backing his vehicle into the "post office bay", he was encouraged to go back out to pick up the mail the people had placed in their mailboxes.  He drove around again and picked up all the outgoing mail.  Pretty soon he got the hang of the routine of a postal carrier and the real play began.  In fact, he proceeded to play for the next several hours.  He stopped to wash his car, repair the wheels and hooked it up to a wagon to carry more mail. The play just continued to grow. 

I listened and watched for ideas as he played and just kept adding props to his role play following his lead.  It was great!

 

You could also add a counter for the mail clerk or postmaster.  Stamps, stickers, ink pads, tape, calculator, scale etc. could be added for an extension of this play.  A hanging shoe bag could be hung for the postal carrier to sort mail etc.  What else can you think of?

 

Photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

 

Photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

 

 

Photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

 

 

 

Photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

Take a look around your house, watch and listen to your children.

What dramatic play can you come up with?

 

Inspired from the book:

Miraculous, Magical Moments in Minutes:

Over 500 Quick, Easy Activities for Adults and Children to Share

by Becky Baxa

Available from http://www.Amazon.com

in both Kindle and Paperback versions

Let's Pretend

Pretending, imaginative or role playing is a vital component of children's play.  

I remember when my children were young, my husband traveled extensively.  The boys spent hours setting up "airports" with cardboard conveyor belts to push their suitcases on and chairs set up for seats in an airplane. They issued tickets with old boarding passes and labeled luggage with tags from American Airlines, United and TWA.   They created airports on large pieces of cardboard and flew little metal planes to far corners of the earth.  As they played, they worked out their emotions of having a daddy that was frequently far from home.  They also experienced and explored the roles of flight attendant, baggage handler, ticket agent, air traffic controller, traveling businessman etc. 

This play would last for days and developed in complexity as it continued over the years.

 

Dramatic play is one area of play in which children accept roles and act them out.  They imitate behaviors they have seen and express verbal language they have heard.  It gives children the chance to pretend to be someone else.  They discover the realms of reality by pretending to be someone else and dramatize situations and actions that go along with the roles they are acting out.

 

Dramatic play is valuable to a child's development by allowing children to

develop skills in multiple areas.

 

Dramatic play enhances child development in four major critical areas:

 

Social/Emotional Development:  sharing, taking turns, negotiation, cooperation, better impulse control, delay gratification, dealing with feelings (anger, disappointment etc.), empathy.  Dramatic play promotes less aggressive behavior

 

Language Development:  better able to explain, ask and answer questions, vocabulary increases,  awareness of the importance of reading and writing is emphasized.

 

Physical Development:  gross and fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination

 

Intellectual/Cognitive Development:  problem solving, creativity, organizing and planning, negotiation, application of new information, abstract thinking, mathematics, literacy, sharing, re-telling of information is increased

 

 

For the child that is afraid at the doctor or at school,  dramatic play allows them to have the power to control the situation and the ability to conquer and define their fears and emotions.  Historically, dramatic play was defined as "housekeeping" in preschool settings.  Early childhood specialists know that the roles have expanded far beyond the role of playing "house", by rocking and caring for dolls or cooking in the kitchen, to the many professions and roles that society holds. 

 

Much to my husband's dismay, (later he admitted the value of such play) I included a kitchen set and a few dolls along with my boy's toys.  I encouraged them to be good daddies and helped them practice parenting skills.  This was especially helpful when a new child was brought into the family.  Culinary skills were practiced with the kitchen set.  My boys opened  restaurants learning how to plan nutritious meals, serving  fancy coffees and charging me very large prices!  As they grew older, play money was introduced and we calculated bills, counted money and made change.

 

My very favorite dramatic play was created with an old pizza box, some felt scraps, some fake fur and some empty plastic boxes.  This dramatic play box expanded over the years with their age and developmental stages.  It began by just making slices of pizza and expanded to the use of menus, order forms, and play money.  Before they could read and write we used stickee arrows to mark the ingredients the "customer" wanted on their slice of pizza. As the boys got older, we added order forms, learned to add up costs of an order, counted money and made change. We practiced etiquette of serving food and dealing with customers.  Hours... years of fun were created from this one dramatic play kit!  You wouldn't believe how much they used to charge me for a piece of pizza and a soda!  It was highway robbery.  :-) They had so much fun!

 

Dramatic Play Box - Pizza
Photo property of Hidden Splendor © 

 

 

 

 

 

Dramatic Play - Pizza - menu and order form
Photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

photo property of Hidden Splendor ©

 

The book Miraculous Magical Moments in Minutes:  Over 500 activities for Adults and Children to Share  by Becky Baxa available from Amazon.com  shares six pages of dramatic play kits you can make for your child (ren).  Kit ideas for family life, birthday party, tea party, doctor/hospital, cleaning, laundry, circus, zoo, farm/ranch, beach, fish pond, camping etc. can be found in this book, plus much more.  These dramatic play kits are made with materials found around the house or from garage/rummage sales or thrift/re-sale shops.  Don't forget to check boxes in the garage and attic too!

 

Next week I will share specifics on how to set up the dramatic play of being a postal carrier!

 

Remember, play is a child's work!

Take a break and play with your child.  Listen to them carefully.

What you hear will direct you to the play that will be most beneficial and interesting to them!

 

Have fun!

 

 

 

Additional Resources can be found at these web sites: 

 

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=751

http://stayathomeeducator.com/the-benefits-of-dramatic-play-in-early-childhood-education/

 

 

 

Inspired from the book:

Miraculous, Magical Moments in Minutes:

Over 500 Quick, Easy Activities for Adults and Children to Share

by Becky Baxa

Available from http://www.Amazon.com

in both Kindle and Paperback versions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic Carpet Ride

 dreamstime.com  photo

No one pretends, or has a more vivid imagination than a child!

Today, why don't you take  a trip on a magic carpet?  Any carpet rectangle, rug or even a towel (beach or regular) will do.

Pack a bag with the things you will need for your trip.  The items will depend on where you are going. 



Don't forget the binoculars (made from toilet paper tubes, rubber banded together.) and your "camera"(a block or old phone may serve this need).  Throw in a map (one you have made yourself or an old map), plus a few snacks and away you go.

Maybe it is a short trip and you don't need anything to travel to your dream place.  If so, have a seat, close your eyes and let the "trip" begin!  What do you see?  Are there people, animals, houses, cars?  What do you hear and smell?  Does the air feel different?  Is it hot or cold?  Windy?  Is the ride bumpy, smooth, rolling?  Make sure you fasten your seat belt and hold on for the ride!

You might want to use your magic carpet to notice all the things in the room that you haven't noticed .  Sometimes we rush through our daily routines so fast, that little things are overlooked.  Has that silk plant always sat in the corner?  Do you always have 5 pillows on the couch?  Did you know you were "decorating" with a spider web in the corner?  :-) 

As always, let the experts in creativity and imagination be your guide.  Listen and follow your child's lead, let yourself travel back to the joys of childhood and have fun!

Happy "traveling"!