Volume 4, Issue 26
December 4, 2006

Experts say children learn through active involvement. What better active involvement for young children than dramatic play? Dramatic play can help children can express thoughts or concerns about a confusing situation they may have experienced at home or at school. It allows children to experience new environments and new materials. Dramatic play even gives children the freedom to try on different personalities and behaviors in an acceptable arena.

We have chosen, in this issue, to present some ideas that we hope will enhance the creative play in your classroom. So gather up those old boas and top hats … play on!

Susan LaBella
Editor, Early Childhood Education Newsletter

GETTING STARTED
Keep in your classroom a box of materials such as cardboard tubes, clean plastic bottles, margarine tubs, packing materials, old postage stamps, junk mail, old greeting cards, and more. Encourage children to use these materials as props for dramatic play. A cardboard tube can become a telescope or an animal's horn. A mail carrier can deliver junk mail, and packing material can turn into grass or hay for a block farm. Be open to children's ideas as they may lead you to other creative play activities!

LET'S TAKE A BATH
Cut down an appliance box to about 2-feet in height. Paint the outside white. Cover a paper cup with silver glitter and attach to one end of the inside of the box for a faucet. Make knobs and attach with brass fasteners for hot and cold spigots. Add packing peanuts to the inside of the "tub" for bubbles. Complete the area with wash cloths, towels, shampoo bottles, bars of soap, and some rubber duckies. Invite children to scrub up at bath time!

TIME TO COOK
In your kitchen area, provide utensils, aprons, and pots and pans. Invite parents to send in empty food boxes which you can then stuff with newspaper and tape closed. Place the boxes in the kitchen area and let children use them when they "cook."

MILK A COW
Create a cow head and tail out of posterboard. Affix the head to one small chair and the tail to another small chair. Place a broomstick across the two chairs. Poke small holes in the fingers of a rubber glove. Fill the glove with water and some milk and tie the glove at the top tightly. Hang the glove from the broomstick and let children "milk" the cow.

ACT IT OUT
Invite your children to act like a bear. Count to ten, then blow a whistle. Children must then stop and listen for another command: "Act like a clown. Act like a fire fighter." Continue, each time counting to ten and blowing your whistle to have children switch roles. You may want to include in this game "characters" that are related to a theme you are studying or that are found in your school community.

SING AND DANCE
Spice up your dramatic play area by adding music and a full-length mirror. Be sure to include scarves, pieces of fabric small enough for children to use to create their own clothing design, and a variety of men's clothing such as shirts, hats, ties, and briefcases. Young children love performing to music in front of the mirror. Change your dress-up clothes every few weeks to keep the center fun and exciting.

LITTLE BO PEEP
Let children choose to be Little Bo Peep (you can have more than one) or a sheep. --- Have children act out the song as they sing it. --- Let each child name something else Bo Peep has lost. Children can act out each suggestion as they sing the song changing words as necessary. (Example: Little Bo Peep has lost her cat, and doesn't know where to find it. Leave it alone and it will come home with its kittens meowing behind it.)

Check out the following Web sites for additional background and activities.

I'm Special, So Are You!
Let children explore their own qualities with this puppet activity.
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3532

Dramatic Play--Everyday
A good read on the importance of dramatic play.
http://www.childcarequarterly.com/winter05_story2a.html

Brain Play
A nice article on why preschoolers need to pretend.
https://family.disney.com/