2. Dramatic Literacy Play
Prop Box
Effective Dramatic Play Centers
•Choice of setting: using familiar themes and
culturally sensitive props.
•Amount of time: complex plots and characters
require minimum of 30 minutes to evolve.
•Defined space: establishes boundaries that
encourage the play to continue (fewer
interruptions).
• Involved teacher: acting as an appreciative
audience, stagemanager, and/or co-player.
3. Restaurant Dramatic Play Center
P r e p a r a t i o n
Group Time:
Read Little Nino’s Pizzeria by
Karen Barbour followed by an
open ended discussion of family
experiences related to meals,
jobs, and going to a restaurant.
Read Pollen Pie by Louise
Argiroff followed by an open
ended discussion of food
versus non-food and healthy
eating habits.
Make a simple
food project from
a recipe.
Write a silly
recipe as a group.
4. Related Centers:
Fine Motor
Center: Playdough
Bakery
Sensory Table:
Yuck Soup
(colored water in
the pouring table
with items added
by the children
5. Dishes Food Toys Cash Register & Money
Menus Clipboards Paper & Markers
Tablecloth Napkins Restaurant & Family Meal Pictures
Velcro Board Dressup Clothes Receipts from office supply store
Telephone “To Go” Bags Baskets for “Delivery” Orders
Inventory of Props
6. Language and Literacy
Play Extensions
Create a menu with
prices.
Create and decorate a
restaurant sign.
Use a Velcro board to
create a “Daily Special” with
pictures of food from each
food group.
Use receipts for:
“May I take your order?”
“Here’s your bill.”
Set the table. (Vocabulary
Building)
Whose job is it? Cook,
Server, Cashier, Dishwasher,
etc.? What tools do they need
for each job? (Vocabulary
Building)
7. Home/School Connection:
Classroom Recipe Book: Ask parents to select a simple
family recipe with their child to share with the class and use
these recipes to create a classroom recipe book.
Restaurant Night: Use the recipes to create a menu.
Parents can come and share the food on the classroom menu
buffet style. Children can play servers and take orders.
8. Story Prop Box
Inventory List:
Book:
A Letter to Amy
by Ezra Jack Keats
Props:
1 Box of Crayons
Sheets of blank 8 ½ x 11
paper
Envelopes
Stamps
Postal Stickers
Mail Box
Postal Carrier Dress Up
Clothes & Hat
Postal Carrier Bag
Rain Coat, Hat and Umbrella
Party Hats
Party Noise Makers
Small Boxes, Wrapping Paper
and Bows
