Developing social skills, improving language comprehension, and inspiring creative productions, dramatic play areas are essential for growing preschoolers. Dramatic play can be done anywhere, anyhow, and with anything. All that is really needed is a broad imagination. Creating a farm dramatic play area will facilitate learning through the discovery of daily farm life and its activities. Here are a few ideas on how to get started.
What to Include In a Farm Dramatic Play Area
Design the area by making it resemble that of an actual farm. Hang blue paper on the top half of the wall to create the sky. Add a few white clouds, the golden sun, and maybe an airplane or two. On the bottom half of the wall, attach a border of grassy fields and pastures with a wooden fence. If available, add a few hay bales next to or inside of a makeshift barn made out of a large cardboard box. These hay bales can also double as seats for the children. Set up a pen for the pigs, a coop for the chickens, and a watering trough for the horses with big plastic bins. Construct a produce stand to sell fruit and vegetables grown right on the farm by hanging curtains on either side of a shelving unit. Fill a baby pool with water and have rubber ducks floating in a duck pond.
Now that the area has been made to look like a farm, dramatic play can begin. Here are a few activities to encourage pretend play with preschoolers:
- Feed the animals. Toss rice and corn around in the bins to feed the chickens and pigs. Fill the horse trough with water from the hose.
- Play dress up by supplying flannel shirts, overalls, work boots, and straw hats to wear. Include accessories such as a rake, a bucket, a shovel, or even a riding tractor toy. Children will look the part as they spend a day on the farm.
- Harvest fruits and vegetables from the fields by collecting them in a basket. Wash them in the farm sink and prepare to sell them at the stand. Separate the fruits and veggies by variety and put them out to sell. Make signs labeling each item and what the cost is. Use a cash register with fake money to make the sale. Provide market and grocery totes for customers to take their purchases home.
- Have a parade with each student pretending to be a different farm animal. As each child passes a designated spot, they can make the noises that their animal makes. Soon the whole classroom will sound like a farm!
- Create a farmer’s to-do checklist. Include tasks and responsibilities such as plant the seeds, water the garden, feed the animals, pick the veggies, and ride the tractor. Providing children with a list of ideas to do will help to get their creative juices flowing.
- Introduce popular farm games such Farmer in the Dell, B-I-N-G-O, Duck Duck Goose, or Old McDonald. Facilitate games with the use of props, such as puppets, costumes, and music discs to sing along with.
With all these great ideas, preschoolers will enjoy their time on the farm with this dramatic play theme.