Providing children with an imaginative play doesn’t have to be a challenge or time consuming. Involving children in the creation builds more learning opportunities and makes the play afterwards more meaningful.
Grayson and I worked together to create a zoo small world. He loved playing with the garbage truck small world earlier this month. So, when I told him we were going to make a zoo, he was thrilled.
I gathered materials we had on hand to create our zoo, including, playdough
Next, he labeled the animals with the signs I made using the first letter of each word. Finally, we put our entrance and exit signs up and the guests were ready to come.
Small worlds is a great way to incorporate learning into play. He planned and executed his plan for building the zoo. We discussed perimeter while making the cages and he used initial sounds to label the animals’ cages…science, math and literacy all in one PLAY time!
You can find other small worlds for your little ones over on the Small World Pretend Play Ideas from A to Z series hosted by Still Playing School.
