Now that you have your dramatic play center set up, you might be looking for some ideas to organize the dramatic play center. You want to organize the space in a way that the kids can take care of if without your help (mostly.) A few careful decisions on your part can make this more likely to happen.
Kitchen Materials:
When you organize the dramatic play center, the first thing to think about is all the kitchen supplies! The pretend kitchen is the heart of the dramatic play area – but all the food and dishes can be chaotic. These small parts need an intentional “home” at clean up time. You can decide how intentional you want to be – just tossing everything in one place, or having special spots for certain items. Some easy ideas include:
- simply toss all the food and dishes in the pretend “refrigerator” and cupboards
- use a large plastic bin for all food and dishes
- add an open shelf with small boxes and/or shelf labels (perhaps one for food and one for dishes)
- use the shelves on your puppet theater as storage (and the theater as a “wall”)
- use shelf labels to mark specials spots for each item
Dress-Up Clothes Organization:
Dress up clothes are so much fun for students. But they can certainly create a mess when kids just toss them on the floor as they peel them off! Make it easy for kids by providing a clear place to put the clothes. Then model and practice where to put the clothes at clean up time (and model and practice… and model and practice…) Here are a few kid-friendly storage ideas:
- a large bin – the kids can just toss the clothes in (not beautiful, but efficient!)
- plastic hooks
- dress up clothing organizer, similar to this:
Number of Students:
You may want to limit the number of students playing in the dramatic play center at once. This helps them to keep the materials better organized, while also minimizes disagreements in a small space with limited supplies. To make it clear how many students can play in the dramatic play center at a time, you might use one of the following techniques:
- clothespins – clip them on a sign by the center; as students begin to play in the kitchen, they put a clothespin on their shirt; when the clothespins are gone, the center is full
- costumes – each student playing in the dramatic play center puts on a related costume (for instance, an apron for a pretend bakery or scrubs for a clinic); when the costumes are gone, the centers is full
- role play necklaces – print a nametag for each “role” in the dramatic play center; put the nametags in plastic badge holders (or laminate and add a string); students wear the name badge as a necklace; when the badges are gone, the center is full
These simple ideas can help organize the dramatic play center in a way that minimizes problems both during play time and at clean up time! If you are looking for a variety of different themes to use in your dramatic play center, I have over 20 choices in my TPT store.
Happy playing!
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