Building Functional Pretend Play Centers

Hello, Everyone!!  Remember a few months ago when I gave you a tour of each of the activities and centers in our classroom??  Well...I'm back at it again!  I apologize for my delay in sharing these with you.  My recent excitement for successful large groups has kept me busy lately.  :)  (Don’t fear we will still have Mrs. Lisa Holt’s feature on low tech large group options coming up for a future Thumbs Up Thursday post. ) 

There is so much to share and so little TIME to prepare it!  So let’s jump right in with a video of our pretend play center.

As I mentioned in the video, this was just one example of a pretend play themed center. We have also done places like a restaurant, doctor’s office, grocery store, fire station, school, and dentist office (...the possibilities are endless!).  Click here to take a look at our vet clinic center as shared in a previous post.  Coming soon... an inside look at our birthday and grocery store centers!!

For now, here's a closer look at a few of the features mentioned in the video.  First, here are the name tag descriptions specific to "Gingerbread Bakery".

I usually make similar name tags for any pretend play center that has defined roles.  They really help our kids understand how to play and contribute to their peers' play in a specific manner.  When I was a Head Start teacher, this skill came naturally to most kids and was transferred by those early adopters to the students who didn’t understand the roles.  I am sure all you teachers are quite familiar with this!  

One little girl or group of girls assign themselves as the mommy/mommies. Then they assign the daddy, the big sister, the baby, etc.  You can find the Gingerbread Bakery name tags as well as the Bakery Aided Language Menu on Boardmaker Share.  Teacher's Tip: One quick suggestion for getting more language and functional pretend baking skills is to use the Melissa and Doug Cookie Set.  It's perfect for a bakery center!

Here are the felt placemats and velcro place settings used to structure setting up the table.

Prior to this modification, so many of our students would dump the container of plates and cups on the floor with no purpose other than to make a mess or spin the plates in a stimming fashion.  

Instructor's Insight:  The thing that makes this system most successful is that I only have the correct number of plates, cups, forks, spoons and knives needed to set the table.  Remember less is more!  If you have extras available, the students will not know what to do.  Later in the year, I could potentially add more and help the kids learn to make decisions like what colors they want to set the table with. 

This is our record player unit repurposed to be a refrigerator. It's complete with a functional food group sorting.

Notice I labeled each container with pictures of food from that food group as most preschoolers do not know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable or what foods are protein or dairy, etc. The visuals and sorting of this activity can help with that knowledge! You can access these labels at my teacher pay teachers store. 

Also food for thought (no pun intended), you may consider removing the wheels on the furniture in your pretend play center.  Most preschool furniture comes with wheels so staff can move it easily. But in our classroom, we have removed all wheels as they simply invite the children to push furniture when they become upset. 

Next, we have our dress up clothing drawers. They are a great way for kids to work on gender sorting and understanding.  These can also be found in the set on my teachers pay teacher store. 

You may have noticed in the video that the drawers were empty.  Again, remember LESS is MORE!   If we are doing a unit that does not include dress ups, we make sure the drawers are empty so the kids can focus on the center-specific activities set up for them.  

Teacher's Tip:  I also use packing tape to close our pretend play washer & dryer doors most of the year unless the kids are doing typical house play.  If the doors are open, the kids open and close them in a stimming fashion or simply stuff materials in them in a nonfunctional manner. 

One more thing...the latest & greatest feature of the pretend play center are functional work tasks related to the center for lower-level students.  These were inspired by a Facetime consultation I had with the ladies at Jackson Public School in Missouri.  They put pretend play worktasks in their house center.  Brilliant...I love/stole it!  Thanks for the idea, Ladies.  

Here is a look at our functional house-related pretend play worktasks. They are all stored in this container.

Notice it says "Ask a teacher to use." on the outside.  This helps us set limits.  We can use the worktasks with students at our discretion to reassure systematic usage and learning. If we gave the students free reign of these materials, they may or may not use them functionally. 

On the lid of the container, there's a communication system for students to pick what they want to play with.  

And now for a closer look at each activity...

Here is theFisher-Price Oreo Game.  

My husband cut a slit in the lid of this game so it can be used as a simple put in task for lower-level kids. Higher kids can find the shape matches and then put  them in.  The slit really helps organize the kids play because they have a specific place for matches and do not spin, throw, or stim on them.

Here is the Egg Shape Game. 

I got my set from US TOYS.  If you don’t have a set and don’t want to spend the money, you could make a color matching egg task with plastic Easter eggs and a egg carton instead.
  

Here is our Silverware Sort.  If you are worried about having real utensils in your pretend play center, you could use pretend ones.  That may reduce noise as well!! :) 

Here is our Number Cookie Jar. I purchased it from Discount School Supply several years ago.  Back then, I just superglued magnets on the back of the cookies and programmed them to match the numbers on stove covers.  

Money-Saving Thought: Stove covers are 2 or 4 for a dollar at Dollar Tree. They are great for all sorts of magnet games!  

Also note, I did not purchase any of these items specific for our pretend play worktasks. I just looked around at what I had and made tasks out of that. Please don’t feel you need to make ones just like mine. Look around see what you have and make something from what you already have! Get creative.

Here is our last one...a Food Making Task.  It is my favorite! 

I simply took pretend food and superglued velcro to it to structure making a hamburger, hot dog, bologna sandwich and PB&J.  Then I made a social story system for the assembly of each one. 

You can access this story on Boardmaker Online or an updated version as well as a dress up story in my teachers pay teachers store .  The kids love it! 

You can also access the baby doll social story on Boardmaker Online.   Here is a closer look at that task.  

It is stored inside the baby drawer for use and practice at the pretend play center regardless of what our pretend theme is.  The repetition of it is really helpful for our little ones who just started playing pretend!

One last tip before I sign off...something we added last year that has really added structure and defined space is the door below.  

I simply used butcher paper to make a pretend door. Then, I added a cabinet handle, a welcome sign from Dollar Tree, and a "Yes We’re Open/Sorry, We’re Closed sign.   With the pretend play center being such a fun one, it really helps our kids to have the door so they know when it is off limits.  

This year we also added this visual. 

It reminds our students to not take pretend play stuff out of the center.  That is a tough skill for one particular student as she likes to roam around the classroom with dress up clothes or baby dolls. 

That is it for now. Until next time, think about how you can unleash your students' imaginations.  Your pretend play center is an excellent place to start!! :) 

Virtually Tour Our Literacy Center

Hello, Everyone!  This week I'm thrilled to share a terrific center, our literary center.   With so much going on in it, I think you will understand it best by simply watching the video. 

Okay, so that was a very quick rundown of the literacy center.  It has become one of my favorites!  I feel like it has really evolved over the years.  This is the first year that I have the leveled boxes in the bench seat.  They have really helped organize the center and help us provide differentiated instruction.  They also hide the materials that we don’t need for each group while providing students with a visual of how much work has to be done at this center.  When the items in the box are all done, they may choose a book off the shelf to free read or in our case free look at.

 

I do want to mention that the books/activities in each box are different each week depending on what we are studying.  This was just one glimpse of what goes on in the literacy center.  The books for this week were about spiders because we are learning about the color black.  Teacher's Tip: To save on cost when making books for my students, I often put them in page protectors and then in a binder.  So I don’t spend time and money laminating each week,  I have a set of page protectors that already have the Velcro strips on them so I can use them for various books.  See this link to view another Velcro book option I posted last winter.

 

This week the books/activities happened to have a math related feature and be all self-made. However, this is not the case for all weeks. Sometimes we use flap books, push button books, or even just good old fashion children’s book with Velcro pull-off vocabulary like the one featured in the photo below.  

A little trick I have learned along the way is to buy three copies of the same cheap board book.  Then, I use two of the books as templates to cut and Velcro into the other book.  (You need two as board books often have pictures on both sides of the page so you have to cut into both).  

Money-Saving Thought: The Target dollar bins often have great board books! Pick up three for a dollar a piece and you have a nice durable interactive book to use with your students for years to come. 

Another way to make books more interactive and help children respond more functionally, especially if they have limited language or are nonverbal, is through aided language boards.  I will often write questions in my personal books with a pencil or marker and then make an aided language board to go along with the book. 

Coming Soon:  In next week's blog, I share more ways to use aided language boards and supports.  

To close today’s post, I want to share a few of the tools we use in the center.  I forgot to mention in the video that each day Miss Molly, our fabulous literacy center para extraordinaire, starts off by singing the alphabet song as she and/or the students point to the letters on the alphabet stick. 

Here's a better look at the name activities Miss Molly is doing right now.  They are new to the center and will change as the students’ skills & interest in letters and their names grow.  They are not something that changes weekly as I find with names and letter recognition the more reinforcement you can offer the better. 

Level One: Foam letter puzzle/name put on. 

Level Two: Name flip book 

The template of this book is available at Boardmaker Share.  If you are not connected to Boardmaker Share, I'd be happy to email you a copy. 

Level Three: Marker board name activity

Please excuse my filthy white board. I tried the old Pinterest trick to clean it with Febreeze, but sadly, it may be unsalvageable. With budgets being so tight, I tend to hold on to supplies. 

Lastly, here's a picture of our library book errand.  As I shared in the video, we use bags in the classroom for this heavy work sensory activity and here is what they look like outside our school library door.  

This feature was added last year because we had several students who needed more movement throughout their day. Even though the literacy center only lasts 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes taking a walk to change out books is just the purposeful sensory activity a child needs to regroup.  Some kids do this at the beginning of their literacy center so they can come back and be more focused with the literacy activities, while others do it at the end of literacy center as they need that movement to reorganize before we rotate to direct instruction. 

So there you have it, folks!!  Our literacy center wrapped up in one quick post.  As always let me know if you have questions, or if you have great books and other activities you use to promote literacy and you would like to share with our Considerate Classroom family.  

Where in the State are Mom & Dad?

Recently, I spent a week in Manhattan, KS for an ABA training provided by the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training(K-Cart).  The training was fabulous.  I learned a lot from Jill Koertner and her staff.  However, I will save all that knowledge for future post after I put it in practice with my students. For now, I want to share a mommy revelation with you. 

Every time I am away I struggle with mommy guilt which usually manifests itself in me buying the boys some sort of toy or trinket.  This coping mechanism does serve my wallet or mind well. It can be difficult to find them something that they don’t already have and something they truly need.

  

Here's my solution...this time I bought the boys a Kansas map.  I then went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a poster frame.  

MONEY SAVING TIP: Last week happened to be a frame sale week.  As a result, I got the frame for a mere $6.00!  However if you go when they are not having a frame sale, just log on to the Hobby Lobby website via your phone and you can access their daily 40% off coupon by simply giving the cashier the code from your phone!!  

Then, I simply framed the map and added a key to represent both mom & dad's travels. (My husband is a flight medic and flies to small and large towns throughout Kansas adding to the daily Kansas geography lessons for our boys.)  

The poster frame serves as a dry erase component to map out our trips.  

In the future, they can even learn to read and find cities on the map using the legend on the side!  

So far, EJ loves it!  He doesn’t even realize he's being taught! He just thinks of it as a fun thing to do.  (Little does he know, everything is a learning activity when Mommy's a teacher!) 

As I go around the state, I also plan to bring back brochures, postcards, or other items to share special things about the places we go.  My only wish is that I had more national or global travels...but Kansas will have to do for now!! :) 
   

7 Day Work Task Challenge - Day 2: Matching & Fine Motor Skills

As my son & I raided the cabinets for random lids that snap closed for Day 1's task box, another task came to mind.  I can’t remember where I originally saw it, but it's a great one.  (If it came from you, please let me know I would love to give you credit for it.)  Anyway, it's matching up and screwing on various lids. 

I simply collected six travel-sized containers with lids and traced the bottom of each of them on one of my favorite reusable boxes, a Birchbox.  Then, I used an exacto knife to cut out the openings for each container. And voilà ... a new matching & fine motor skill task that works on functional self-help skills, too!!

My favorite part about this task is that it is compact and the lid of the box serves as a place to hold all the container lids. This element structures the task and makes it easy for students to keep track of the pieces.  I simply attached some velcro to the side to keep both box pieces together. And, it literally cost me nothing!! Score.

What other household items could be repurposed as task boxes?  Do you have a clever, cheap task idea you'd like to share?  You are welcome to share them on my Facebook Page.  (Teacher's wallets worldwide would thank you!)

Handmade Gift Ideas for Staff Appreciation

Our school recognizes paraprofessionals in April by celebrating "Para Week".  Each teacher and classroom takes the time to appreciate the hard work of its paraeducators and teacher assistants.  I did a little research, and unfortunately, learned that there aren't any national special days or weeks designated to recognize the hard work of paraprofessionals.  

However, I think any & every day is deserving to thank those who make our classrooms more successful. I'm the first to admit my classroom would not run effectively without the hard work and dedication of my staff.  I often joke with them that they are my brain.  Some of my best classroom tips and strategies come from them because they truly have the best interest of the students in mind.  Therefore, this week I am posting my top five ways to recognize classroom assistants.

1.  "Hand"some Bouquet - Help your students secretly make a bouquet of flowers made from their hand prints.  Simply trace their hands on colored construction paper and glue them together. 

Then, wrap them into a flower shape and hot glue the flower together using a colored popsicle stick as the stem and colored pom-poms as the inside. 

Next, have your students sign their names on their flower and place them in a vase with colored aquarium rocks inside.  Add a pretty ribbon and you have a gift your paras are sure to love!  

2. Show Off Their Greatness - Take vertical photographs of your paras working with the students. Download the photos to the Walgreens Photo Website and print as a pretend magazine cover.  

The cover I like to use is Woman’s World:Woman of the Year.  Put it in a nice frame and wrap it with student-decorated wrapping.  Your paras will smile when they open such a unique gift.  

This sample is of my son and his daycare provider.
THANKS, JACKIE!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!
It is so reassuring to know my kids are in good hands when I can't be there.

Parent Tip: Childcare Provider Day is Friday, May 10^th this year.  Moneysaving Thought: Watch out for Walgreens' sales! You can often get 30 to 50% off of photo gifts and prints. 

3.  Paint Them a Masterpiece - When your paras are away, secretly have your students take turns choosing a paint color. Have them paint a few strokes across the same piece of paper.  Keep a list of what color each child chose. After each student paints, fold the paper in half to make the paint merge together for an abstract affect.  

When the paint dries, frame the painting in a nice frame with a mat, wrap it, and attach a special note that reads: 

A special thank you for all that you do! This one-of-a-kind artwork was painted with you in mind. Each student painted with a different kind. . . Red by Jake, Brown by Kendall, Pink by Kathy, Orange by Jim, Blue by Payton, Dark Blue by Todd, White by Steve, Green by Mike, Dark Green by Julie,
Teal by Stacy, Hot Pink by Emmitt, and Yellow by Douglas

4.  Make Them Famous for the Day -  Help your students decorate crowns for your paras.

Order personalized trophies that say "World’s Best ParaEducator" or "Number One Para".  I ordered mine from Crown Awards. Next, grab some red bulletin board paper for a ‘red carpet’ and have your paras walk the red carpet as your students clap and cheer for them. 

5.  Give them a Taste of Home - Send out a note or email to parents that you are secretly collecting favorite family recipes for a special surprise for your paras. 

You will be surprised by how into this your families will get!  Several of our families typed them out and added pictures of their kids cooking them or had their children draw special pictures on them.   

Then, have your students help decorate a recipe box for them.  I got my recipeboxes in the craft section at Wal-mart.  My students decorated the boxes by using their hands to make various fruits and vegetables.  I added silly little sayings for each piece of produce.  

• For the cherry - "You are ‘cherry’ cool!"
• For the grapes - "You’re ‘Grape’!", 
• For the carrot -"You ‘carrot’ about us!" 
• For the bananas - "I am bananas for you." 
• For the peas - "You are ‘pea’fect!  

Note: I removed the class pictures to post this idea on the blog. However, the class pics definitely added a special touch to a wonderful keepsake!

Teacher's Tip: These ideas could also be used for a variety of other occasions.  For example, we have made the painted masterpiece and recipe box as retirement, housewarming, going away and wedding gifts.  We have also used the handsome bouquet as a get well gesture.  They could be used as unique gifts for family and friends, too!  Keep in mind that Teacher Appreciation, School Nurse’s Day, and Secretary’s Day are just around the corner!! :)

I hope you enjoyed my top five paraeducator appreciation gifts.  My only wish is that I could give my paras much more because that's what they deserve!!  Happy Paraeducator Week to my current paras Miss Penny and Miss Molly. . . I truly couldn't do it WITHOUT YOU!!!!! And to those who have worked in our classroom in the past: Miss Alaina, Miss Molly K, Miss Andrea, Miss Wendy, Miss Jolene, Miss Lori, Miss Rene',  Miss Kelsi, Miss Joelene, Mrs. LaFond and Mrs. Linenberger. . . each of you have made an impact on my life, as well as the lives of our students and their families.  Thanks for your love and dedication!