Pretend Play

Pretend Play
Children learn through practice and mimicry. Young children often mimic their parents in playing kitchen or  even correcting their stuffed animals.
A few benefits of pretend play are:
* it encourages creativity
* it helps children develop social and emotional skills
*it helps children develop language skills
* it encourages problem solving strategies
* it helps students develop both fine and gross motor skills

Some of the thematic play units I have created are: vet clinic, ice cream shop, pizzeria, coffee shop, and post office.
When possible, I use real items from actual businesses such as cups or containers. The area is set up as an invitation to play with a print rich environment. Each new theme has a variety of activities that the students may pick from.
These thematic units are always fun to create and the students really enjoy them.
Our units stay for about a month, depending on current curriculum themes and overall interest.

I also include options for writing in our thematic pretend area. Things like meal tickets, vet notes, or letters to friends that encourage students to be writers. It is good to remember that there are many stages of the writing process. Even scribbles are a step in the right direction.

Changing our our pretend area can be a lot of work. Deciding the theme, finding the materials, and the overall setup can take up a lot of time BUT seeing the students' excitement and engagement in in play while at this center make it well worth it.