Fall means back to school and one of my favorite back to school activities is setting up my dramatic play center for fall. This is my favorite place in my classroom! I’m always amazed at how creative my students are in the dramatic play area – they use the materials in ways I never even considered.
Personally, I like to start the year with a simple kitchen set up. This is a scene that is familiar to all students in one way or another, so it’s easy for all children to participate. I try to add foods, dishes, and utensils that reflect what my students might use and see at home. I also enjoy shopping at garage sales in the summer for exciting dress up clothes (and sometimes other props) for the kitchen.
Once students have settled into the new school year, I begin to change the dramatic play center every month. There are so many fun themes to use – and adding something new and novel catches the students’ attention. When I select the new theme, I think about the season, upcoming holidays or topics we will be learning about in the near future.
(Not fall yet? Check out these ideas for spring, summer, and Christmas-themed dramatic play centers.)
Fall offers so many exciting themes for dramatic play. Here are just a few ideas you might want to try out in your room:
Kitchen (or Housekeeping)
At the beginning of the school year, you may want to set up a simple housekeeping center. This is a perfect center for the beginning of the year because all students have had experiences with a family and home setting. And the supplies are usually fairly easy to come across. (You can even find many of the materials second hand.)
Basic Supplies Needed:
- a kitchen set
- table and chairs
- dishes
- pretend food
Step It Up:
- dolls & doll furniture
- dress up clothes
Keep It Organized:
If your kitchen set includes a refrigerator and cabinets, you can store the dishes and pretend food in the kitchen set itself. You can simple let kids toss kitchen items in the cabinets to get them out of sight. Or, if you want something more organized, use these free shelf labels to tell students where to put the kitchen materials.
If you really want to up your game with your dramatic play center, check out this printable housekeeping kit. It includes wall hangings, recipe cards, shopping lists and so much more!
Farmer’s Market:
The fall harvest provides the perfect dramatic play setting for young children. In the pretend market, they can buy and sell the produce. If you have room to keep a kitchen set available, students can later use the “fresh produce” to create meals.
Basic Supplies Needed:
- pretend fruits and vegetables
- storage boxes for sorting produce (plastic shoeboxes work fine)
- shopping bags/baskets
- pretend cash register
Keep It Organized:
Place boxes for produce on shelves. If you add labels (pictures of each produce item) to each box, it will help students clean up easily when they finish shopping or cooking. (This Farmer’s Market kit includes shelf labels, wall signs, order slips and more.)
If you do not have pretend coins or bills for shoppers, allow them to use invisible, imaginary money. They will have fun regardless.
Campsite:
In many places, fall is the time for perfect time for camping – so add a campsite to your dramatic play center. Weather is cooler and there are fewer bugs! (This is also a great center for summer.) Let your students pretend to camp in your classroom. You can keep this center simple, or add multiple activities to your campsite.
Basic Supplies Needed:
- tent (real, or sheets draped over chairs)
- campfire
- chairs around the campfire
Step It Up:
- lake (use a blue sheet or tablecloth taped to the floor)
- plastic fish and fishing poles (make simple ones from thick dowel rods and string; add a magnet and put paperclips on laminated paper fish and students can go fishing)
- kid-sized boat
- life vests
- mountain scene hung on the wall
- stuffed forest animals (bears, squirrels, etc.)
Keep It Organized:
Provide a large box (or cooler) for storing camping supplies. When it’s time to clean up, students can toss things in the box or cooler and you are good to go! Fishing and boating supplies can be stored in a boat or second large box.
You might also provide a photo of what the clean center looks like (for example, where the campfire and chairs should go). Then students can refer to the photo as they clean.
As another option, if you have an empty shelf available, you can add shelf labels to help students clean up neatly. This dramatic play kit includes shelf labels, a Nature Hunt, packing lists, camping safety reminders and more.
Pumpkin Patch:
Kids love Halloween. So why not capitalize on the Halloween Spirit by creating a pumpkin patch in your dramatic play center? Set this up like a simple store and your kids will have a blast! Mix in pumpkin sizes with prices (small, medium, large) and your students can practice math as they play.
Supplies:
- plastic pumpkins (or the pretend ones from craft stores)
- price tags/signs
- pretend cash register
Step It Up:
- create paper vines to decorate the center (roll long strips of green bulletin board paper)
- add small decorative gourds to the pumpkin patch
- add cups to sell pretend hot cider
Keep It Organized:
The easiest way to display the pumpkins is on a wooden shelf. You can sort them by sizes – label the shelves for easy clean up. Because this is likely to be a popular center, you may need to limit the number of students (1-2 cashiers and a small number of shoppers.)
Shoppers visit the pumpkin patch to select and purchase a pumpkin. This is a pretty simple center to set up and for kids to use.
Seasonal dramatic play centers can be so much fun for our little learners. Try some of them in your classroom! You might start with something simple (like the kitchen or a pumpkin patch), then work your way up to a more complex dramatic play center, like the campsite. No matter what you try, your students are bound to have fun as they play!
As the seasons change, come back for more dramatic play ideas for Christmas, spring and summer.
Products featured in this post:
Dramatic Play Home Living Center
You might also like:
- Benefits of Dramatic Play
- How to Organize the Dramatic Play Center
- Setting Up the Dramatic Play Center (on a budget)
- Making Time for Play
