Grocery Store

It is time for another change at the Dramatic Play Center!  I have posted about this frequently because so much fun and learning take place when students are actively engaged in dramatic play.  Our bare bones set up is just a kitchen, but each month (for 2-3 weeks) we transform it into something new.  At the beginning of the year, the students ran a fun Ice Cream Parlor.  The center has also been a Baby Nursery and a Gift Wrapping Station.

This month, the students will be buying groceries at "Shop Smart"!

A week before we were ready to set up the grocery store, we asked all of our families to save and send in their empty food containers-- cereal, crackers, milk jugs, egg cartons, etc.  The students love bringing bags to school to stock the shelves.  (And it's free!  Hooray.)

We gathered the plastic fruits and vegetables from our regular kitchen set and sorted them into baskets for a produce stand.

We are always looking for ways to incorporate math concepts into our centers.  This weigh station introduces young children to measurement.

The grocery store is a big center, so we utilize other furniture.  This is our art center, covered and labeled as the "Refrigerator."  All of the milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and juice go here.

Of course, before they head to the grocery store, the students can sit and make a shopping list.  The lists have pictures for the children to circle if they aren't comfortable writing (or trying to write) words yet.

After writing their lists, the customers can choose a cart.  (We have been gathering these from yard sales for years.  They are a big culprit in our storage closet issues!)

There's a basket of funny money in the "Bank" for the customers.  We wouldn't want them to arrive at the check-out with no cash!

Of course, in addition to customers, we need employees to run the store.  Here, the students pick out a name tag when they arrive to "work".  The Cashier is a very popular job, but surprisingly so are the Clerk and the Cart Chief.  These workers help to make sure everything gets returned to the correct place in the store!

Shop Smart has a 5-item limit for the carts, so when the customers have chosen their 5 items, they can line up to pay.  The cash register on the right is another yard sale find.  It prints "real" receipts, but is temperamental.  The red one on the left is a toy register with a bar code scanner.  Fortunately, the students love both of them so we don't have too much arguing!

There are so many things that I love about this center.  At the top of the list is how well the children interact, talk, negotiate, and role play while they are there.  How do you organize your dramatic play center?  Does it change often?  I'm always looking for new ideas!

All of the signs, labels, name tags, etc. that I used to create this center are available here:

Have fun playing and learning with your children today!

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