Part of two of our Pre-K legacy gifts is complete at another center! Every year the money we raise from our Art Walk Silent Auction goes to the graduating Pre-K class legacy gift. We also decided to enhance our outdoor dramatic play space with Excellerations® Indoor-Outdoor Moveable Play Kitchen + Excellerations® Outdoor Storage Shelf
The Mud Kitchen is everything young chefs need to cook their favorite foods! There's a hutch to store dishes and play food, plenty of counter space with a stove top, oven, and a stainless steel sink with working pump faucet all in one compact unit. Hutch and oven doors have magnetic latches that are easy to open, but stay closed when shut.
Since the children are excited for fall we decided to turn this area into a pumpkin pie market! To set it up we provided baking tins, cookware, pumpkin bowls, and baking tools. We placed natural foraged loose parts (pine cones, eucalyptus pods, magnolia stamen, bark), fall scented potpourri, cinnamon sticks, cloves, real and fake pumpkins. The children were invited to create, cook, explore, and play all things pumpkin spice!
Enhancing dramatic play areas with seasons, celebrations, holidays, concepts, and interests is a great way to connect and understand what is happening in the world around them as well as provide more exposure to different things. Dramatic play is a crucial part of early childhood. Since the possibilities are truly limitless in pretend play, this space will continue to encourage a child to use their imagination in its truest form by doing what they do best and that is PLAY!
In this new space the children will continue to build social and emotional skills, language skills, problem-solving skills, increase creativity, explore different sensory materials, enhance their fine/gross motor skills, and so much more. If there is one thing we truly believe is that children need to imagine, create, and explore all through the power of play!
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