
Flower Shop Dramatic Play
When the spring fever hits, this is a great pretend play center to get them engaged and busily interacting with one another. If students are excited to engage in play, eager to play with each other, and if their hands are busy, behavior problems automatically decrease.
Flower Shop Materials:
- Flowers
- Flower Shop sign and printables
- Watering cans, vases, or other similar containers
- Tissue Paper
- Ribbon
There are lots of ways to bring flowers into your pretend play area. If you’re lucky enough to live in a region where spring has sprung, invite the children outside to gather flowers.
Silk flowers from the dollar store are also a really good, economical solution. They are often sold in bunches – 4-6 flowers for only a dollar.
Make sure to prepare the silk flowers so that they can be reused year after year. Cut the individual stems apart. Pull the flower off of the stem and add a drop of super glue. They will be more durable, long-lasting, and kid-friendly for a fun, busy pretend play area.
Choose 4 different types of flowers. The goal is to make it very easy for the children to sort them in their pretend play shop. (Look! We’re also working on sorting – an essential preschool math skill. It’s integrated seamlessly into their role-playing, without unnecessary teacher direction.)
Pretend Play – Choosing a Role!
Some preschoolers struggle to figure out exactly what to do and how to play in a new pretend center. These dramatic play centers work well because of the use of role-playing name tags. For the flower shop, the preschoolers can pretend to be a florist, a delivery driver, a cashier, a gardener, or a customer who orders a bouquet!
Flowers to Go
Continue to extend the pretend play and create an area where students can take orders for flower bouquets to go! Offer squares of tissue paper (dollar store), ribbon (dollar store), and scissors. The students will get amazing fine motor practice while they wrap and tie the bouquets.
Perhaps the flower store customers would prefer to take the bouquet home in one of these ultra fancy plastic vases?
Finally, add a variety of blank cards to the writing center. They are the perfect addition to a dozen roses for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or a special birthday.
I teach first grade, but I absolutely love all your dramatic play centers!! They are just fantastic. I wish I taught preschool or kinder so I could use them all! I love the nametags, the writing activities, everything! 🙂 Thanks for sharing all of your fabulous ideas!
Amanda
First Grade Garden