Ice Cream Parlour - Pretend Play

Date - 23/06/2022
When was it done - Small group

Materials required

• Brown Paper and Coloured Sheets

• Plain Sheets

• Sensory Bins/Baskets

• Wooden Cutlery

• Stationary

Activity Prep

To set up the ice cream parlor for the activity, brown paper was used to make ice cream cones and coloured sheets for different flavors of ice creams. A menu with ice cream flavors was also prepared along with tags for display. Coupons for children were also made which had names of the flavors on them.

Invitation Set-Up

Invites were set up by constructing a pretend ice cream parlour with a reception and purchase station.

Process

The reception station had a facilitator at the table who conversed with the customers (children) and handed them a coupon for the flavour that they picked.  Then, at the purchase counter, an ice cream station was laid out for children to pick their flavours from.

Children’s Response

Children responded very well to the activity and showed a lot of engagement in the process of it.

Precautions

Being mindful that children do not try to consume the pretend play props.

Skills/Concepts

1. Social Development - Pretend Play requires advanced thinking strategies, communication, and social skills. Through it, children learn to do things like negotiating, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles.

2. Emotional Development - Pretend play offers an opportunity to learn emotional skills like, reading body language cues and building communication.

3. Learning About Self - Dramatic play experiences are some of the first ways children learn about their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities. They experiment with role-playing and work to make sense of what they’ve observed. 

4. Synthesizing Knowledge and Skills - Pretend play is an ideal way to blend skills and knowledge together. It provides circumstances that are practical and demanding of instincts built over time.