Our dramatic play area changes on a monthly basis. The theme is most often chosen by the children in a democratic fashion. We brainstorm lots of ideas, and then vote for our favorite. Once we have the theme, we brainstorm what kind of props we need to put in it. We started the year with a sandwich shop and as of this week, we created a veterinarian’s clinic.

While I may be ultimately responsible for furnishing and initially arranging the area, the children themselves are responsible for the learning that follows.

 

 

Through dramatic play, the children are engaging in creative and imaginative scenarios that stem from experiences that may have had themselves, read about in books, heard about through listening to adult conversations, or seen on the television. They are role playing, mimicking and imitating behavior. At first they may limit themselves to things that they have experienced directly, but soon their thoughts become more independent and abstract, as they incorporate words and actions that either come naturally, or they observe their peers doing.