Homemade Props for Playing Doctor

Here are some simple ideas to make to add to your playing doctor and hospital kits.

Above is some homemade band-aids made out of felt. If you do not like to sew you could just glue on the different colored felts. I love felt for simple projects like this since it is very economical and soft to touch. If you want, you can add velcro so the bandages will actually close.

You can also make a basic cast out of a piece of felt. I just took one piece of felt, folded it half lengthwise, and sewed down one side. I turned it inside out and cut out a thumb hole. It fits kids up to about 9 years old. If you do not have felt and do not sew you could just cut a thumb hole in a white tube sock for the same effect.

Above is an ice pack for play. The kids will enjoy helping to make this prop. Pour Dawn soap (make sure it is Dawn) into a plastic bag. Seal it up (I added extra duct tape and put it inside another baggie just in case). Put it in the freezer. It freezes just like a gel ice pack so it is flexible. Lots of fun to wrap around an "injured" arm. Personally, makes a nice icepack for real boo-boos as well!

Need more props for playing doctor and hospital? Download the Playing Pretend ebook for Doctor and Hospital forms.

Playing Pretend Pet Store

Since most children would love to purchase many different pets, nothing beats playing pretend pet store.  The children can be pet store owners or shop for all the pretend pets they would like.  It also makes excellent use of all those stuffed animals kids have around the house.

This last time the kids played they separated the shop by sorting the stuffed animals grouping them together.  There was a self service feeding station where you could scoop "pet food" (actually colored macaroni from a sensory bin) into pet food bags from Playing Pretend - Animal.  This area was a huge hit and the younger set pretty much scooped "food" the entire time.

The kids hung price tags from many of the pets.  The printable receipts from Playing Pretend - Animal was also lots of fun. 
 

Surfing on Dry Land

Watch this quick video on how the kids came up with surfing on dry land.  This was a lesson in engineering, design, balance skills, imagination and loads of fun!!!!!

Free Candy Shop Bucks to Play Pretend

I am so excited that I finally finished creating this Candy Shop download.  You can download some Candy Bucks to print and play Candy shop with for free.  The Candy Shop complete download is on sale for $2.49 until 6/2/12.  Let your children's imaginations grow with this pretend play download to create their very own candy shop!!!

Pretend Play Box - School

Pretend Play Box -School

What's Inside:  Inside this box is a home made clipboard (cardboard, contact paper and binder clip), large index cards, pencil box (recycled watercolor container), ruler, protractor, paper clips, set of dice, pointer, stickers, dry erase marker, eraser, name jar (popsicle sticks inside recycled Parmesan cheese container), pom pom jar (collect one pom pom for good behavior - fill the jar and have a pretend party at your school), prize jar (toy cars and rubber ducks inside jar) and some laminated printables from   Pretend Play School Packet (report card, behavior chart, lesson plan, attendance, weather, calender and a few more).

What They Played: The 18 month old loved putting the popsicle sticks in and out of the cheese container, pom poms in/out of jar, spilling the paper clips over and over onto the lid of the box and writing with a pencil on the clipboard.

The older kids set up doll school.  Using the pretend play school forms they reviewed the calender, handed out jobs, took attendance, gave stars for good behavior and completed report cards.  They wrote the doll's names on the popsicle sticks so that when it was time to take a turn they would just pull out a stick and call that doll's name.  Pom-poms were awarded and removed for good or bad behavior.  They created a few worksheets on the index cards for the doll's to complete.  Using the pointer, they brought attention to different areas on the weather chart.  All in all, it kept the kids busy for quite some time.
 

Sign for the Box:   If you are creating your own boxes I added the sign for the box to the document.  You can view it at Pretend Play Box - School Sign

View the Pretend Play Box - Newborn Baby 

View the Pretend Play Box - Pet Show

Get the full download of Playing Pretend - School at GrowingPlay.com

Pretend Shops

Recently on a weekend morning, the children thought up to play pretend shops. Each child created their own shop where they created prices for various services or items. They set up different stations in separate areas. I gave each child $0.50 to spend at the different shops. This lasted for hours. Here is what they came up with:


1. Spa - I visited this shop a few times. Foot massages were only $0.10!


2. Hair Coloring - I saw somewhere on Pinterest that you could use oil pastels to temporarily color strips of hair. It worked pretty well and washed out easily.


3. Cafe - hot chocolate and cookies were sold in this shop with waitress service. This was a hot spot to hang out.


4. Carnival Games and Rides - the baby loved all the rides at this shop. Prizes of recycled stuffed animals were awarded for throwing balls at different targets.


5. Face Painting - I don't think they even charged for this shop they enjoyed doing it so much.

If you need ideas for Pretend Play check out all of our ideas to grow play even further.

Ideas for Playing Pretend School

Children, especially young girls, love to play school. Whether it be friends, dolls or stuffed animals for students kids will instruct anyone if given the chance. Sometimes they just need a little push to get the game going. The next time your child comes to you saying they are bored perhaps you can help set up a pretend school to spark their imagination. Try some of these ideas:
1. Set up a table for the head teacher. Put some paper and pencils on it.
2. Put some pillows on the floor or small chairs for the students.
3. Children love to use tape, hole punches and staplers. Put some on the teacher's desk.
4. If you can hang a dry erase board in your play room it will be money well spent. My children spend so much time with this cheap "toy". Whether it be pretending to be the teacher, writing song lyrics or drawing targets to throw a ball at the white board gets a lot of use.

Sometimes children just need a little push to get started and then take off with the idea. Check out our Pretend Play - School Packet for forms and signs to supplement playing school. This is a great way to encourage literacy while your child plays. If your child is old enough to read and write they will love all the prompts to use while playing. If your child can't read yet, they will see how words associate with pictures.


Playing Pretend - School

Get 28 forms and signs to play pretend school.

Visit GrowingPlay for more information.