DIY Dramatic Play Theatre

Dimples loves to dress up, he has an insanely large collection of dress ups for a 4 year old. Over the years I have collected any dress up outfit, pretend play props and funny looking piece of clothing I have come across into a toy box and it got to the point that we were hardly getting them out because there was just too much. So I decided to designate an area for the dress ups and make a play area to encourage Dimples to role play and make use of his collection. Here is the DIY Theatre I made in our lounge room. 

It was so easy, and its the lazy Mums DIY play space. I do have a sewing machine but I had 5 minutes to spare so I grabbed a red sheet, cut it down the middle and laid it across the floor then I put a string across the middle of both 'curtains' and doubled them over so that the string remained in what was now the top. I grabbed a stapler and stapled it about an inch from the edge (making sure the string wasn't in the way and was in the top side. Ok so its not ideal and you may want to sew it but it was easy and any one can do it.
I put a small hook on the wall which is opposite a baluster railing at the top of a stair case, I then tied the strong with the curtains hung from the railing across to the hook, making sure that they open and closed.

You could do it from wall to wall or across a corner of a room I guess, or if you had one of those portable clothing rails that could work. All Dimples dress ups were put in a couple of toy boxes behind the curtains and he started to do performances. Mission Complete.

Its pretty funny!
He is quite the drama King. He starts his performance with the curtain shut and counts down, then he claps three times before he rips the curtains open and springs out into action. He does high energy dances, sings and jumps around the place, he does comedy performances as a clown and falls down over and over and over laughing at him self. He always remembers to do a bow when he is finished.

Dimples tells jokes and because the height of the curtains is head height the DIY theatre also doubles as a Puppet show. He ducks down and uses props to put on a puppet show with his stuffed animals.
Its great for Family Fun. Miss Cherub sits and watches his performances excitedly and on the weekend we had a screen free day where myself, Adventures Dad and Dimples had to take turns doing performances. We spent the afternoon laughing at each other and being silly together.

Dimples has utilized all the dress up gear more in the past two weeks than he has in the past two years.
He has a Monsters Inc suit which is a favourite and a Monsters inc toy that he was talking for as if he was a ventriloquist.  He has developed quite a laugh, he always cracks me up.

Learning Concepts:
Pretend Play
Imagination & Creativity
Role Play
Being Active
Vocabulary
Imitating people, things and animals
Developing a sense of humor
Confidence in self

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Happy Adventures :)

Wombat Stew

Do you bring your stories to life?  We do!
Lately we have taken this to another level.
This is how we bought Wombat Stew to life using pretend play & a little imagination.



Wombat Stew



Reading is much more interesting and intriguing to children when you use exciting faces, character voices and engage them in the process.  Pointing to the words as reading them, discussing what they think will happen or for older children, getting them to fill in the blanks. I do this often with Dimples, reading a familiar sentence then pointing to the last word and pausing so he can finish it.


Our new thing though, is playing out stories through dress ups or pretend play.  We did this with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, one of our favourites.  One of Dimples other favourites is "Wombat Stew" By Marcia Vaughan and Pamela Lofts.
Have you heard of it? I think it is an Australian Classic. Well written, great illustrations, up beat, fun, educational and it rhymes. Dimples sings along to the dingos chant and gets right into it, he finds the ending hilarious every time.



We bought this story alive by making our very own wombat stew, Dimples was the Dingo and had a big fat wombat reading to stew up. I gave him some blue cellophane that he cut up and put in a large laundry tub,  I mean into the bubbling billy. We collected some Mud from the Platypus, Some feathers for the Emu, Some Plastic flies from the Blue tongue Lizard, Plastic creepy crawlies from the Echidna, and Real Gum nuts from the Koala.



 

All our ingredients were placed out on Dimples table and he got his stuffed toys ready. He had most of them but his echidna was missing in action. We spent all morning looking for it, it didn't turn up until later that day when we weren't looking, I found it hidden in a jacket in my wardrobe, go figure!


Dimples sat his fat wombat ready as he stirred the billy and chanted "righto, in  they go!" along with the story as he put in the ingredients.  All the while the kookaburra sat by and watched, just like in the illustrations.


It was funny to see Dimples get right into it and act like the dingo, his eyes lite up as waited for me to read the next part of the story, of course he already knew which ingredient was going to be next but waited patiently stirring the billy.



At the ending Dimples tasted his stew, not really, but he went to the extent of getting mud on his face. " Argowwwwwwwwweeeeee, I've been poisoned, You've tricked me!" He screamed and then ran off, hands waving in the air and his tongue poking out. Never again to sing - " Wombat stew, Wombat Stew, Gooey, Brewy, Yummy, Chewy, Wombat Stew!"
It was awesome fun and he played with his Wombat Brew for a while after chatting away to himself. I'd here the occasional "righto in they go!" as he inspected the ingredients.

Happy Adventures :)

Ice cream Dough and Sprinkles

Today's outdoor activity was a messy, sensory play all rolled into one fun dramatic pretend play session. We took it outside to enjoy the fresh air and the lovely smell of spring flowers while saving on the mess factor.  I made what I will call Ice cream dough from a large cheap bottle of baby powder and 1/2cup of baby oil, coincidental both were lavender scented. Our ice cream dough smelt wonderful and felt silky soft.

Delicious Looking, sweet Smelling, Silk soft to play with and oh so fun.



I mixed it up in a large tub and served it to Dimples outside with some small different shape bowls, a measuring cup, an ice cream scoop, some plastic spoons, some sprinkles and some Pom poms.

First I made him a bowl of Ice cream, a few moulded scoops with a cherry on top and gave him the spoon. He grabbed the spoon and hooked in (instantly falling into his dramatic pretend play mode) 'yum yum delishhh-us!' he said. It was a funny moment because I had never heard him say this in context before.

 

He took the role as ice cream maker very seriously and set to work making me a bowl of ice cream, 'try it' he insisted, watching me when a huge dimply grin. 

The game went on and on, Dimples enjoyed scooping it all up and patting it into bowls and the measuring cup, as you would with sand castles then carefully putting them upside down to get them out. I think he mostly enjoyed smashing the balls of ice cream I made up and of course generously sprinkling on the 100's & 1000's.

 

The ice cream dough looked so appealing with its rainbow sprinkles and it smelt so fresh. I am glad we took it outside though, it was definitely an outside activity. There was white powder and crumbs every where, Dimples tends to throw his hands up when they are covered on something and flick them over head like a chopper so that stuff flies off in every direction.

Tap and flatten the bowl full of Ice cream face down.



Dimples had an awesome time building, forming and patting the dough into ice cream and mastering how to scoop it packed in to the bowl or scoop and then slowly sliding it out. Through experimenting he learnt how to perfectly build a dome using a bowl and had lots of hands on play with scooping, pouring, smashing, patting, measuring, using the spoon, measuring cup, sprinkles and bowls to pretend make ice cream. He also learnt that the dough was very fragile and cracked easily.

slowly does it







Big smiles. Successful!





Happy Adventures :)

My Very Hungry Caterpillar

Our favourite book of all time is Eric Carles The very hungry caterpillar, so when my little bookcase announced the Create a picture book tableau challenge I knew we had to participate and I knew just the thing we should do. Click the link to see more!

 

 

 

We sat and read our all time favourite cuddled up on the lounge. I have read this story over and over since Dimples was a baby and he still never takes his eyes off it as I read. It would be one of my favourites as well, such a fun colourful book with an educational element and the unique style of fun sized pages with holes through them, it really brings it to life.

I asked dimples what he would do if he turned into a hungry caterpillar and he told me he would eat fruit and grow into a butterfly. When I asked him if he wanted to be the hungry caterpillar his eyes lite up with curiousity.  First we made a sun from circular paper and some feathers, we put up a back drop sheet and found dimples caterpillar sleeping suit. Also from when he was a baby, it still fits but more as a dress, his legs hang right out the bottom.

Dimples helped as we gathered an apple, a pear, a passion fruit (standing in for a plum, they're not is season at the moment) a strawberry and a orange.  You can't see but my very hungry caterpillar has already taken a bite from the apple, the strawberry and stuck his thumb through the orange. 

 

He is very photogenic, when its just me he is an absolute poser, but can be very camera shy for strangers. There goes my chance of a Santa picture again this year. I think he is just so used to Mummy with a camera in her hand that it doesnt phase him.

In the past, early in on my blog, we have done some Very Hungry Caterpillar crafts:

 Very hungry Caterpillar Painting using Jar spinning technique.

C is for Caterpillar, 3 caterpillar crafts

 





We didnt just read the book and take some photos, we read the story and talked about all the things in the book. The fruit, how many, the process of metamorphis, the days of the week and ofcourse, the junk food that gives him a tummy ache. As we re-read the story Dimples acted out the story, doing crazy eye movements as he looked for fruit. Rolling around with a tummy ache and pretending to POP out as a butterfly. Then we cut the fruit up and had it for afternoon tea.

This is very happy hungry caterpillar as a 6 month old grub :)

Dimples exploring fresh fruit and veggies in his caterpillar suit when he was just 6 months old

X marks the spot

lots of loot

My little Dimples loves Pirates.

Just have a glance through this blog and you will find lots of Pirate inspired play ideas:

 From his Pirate room , to his Pirate birthday party invites , Pirate Party games , Pirate Party Grub to his Pirate theme tree House & fun things like Treasure Hunts & small world sand dough pirate play .

This one is a fun simple outdoor activity that we do often.

Buried Treasure in the back yard sand pit.

Burying the loot using a tonka dump truck

We have a collection of treasure that we use all the time.

It is just a bunch of shiny stuff like....  lucky stones, blue jewels from the craft isle, fake coins from Pirate dress ups, some kids plastic dress up necklaces cut into strands of jewels from the party section of the bargain shop, some fake pearl ribbon cut into strands, old junk jewelry and bits and bobs that I had for some reason kept from my teenage trend years but would never wear again.

A large X gets drawn in the sand pit over the buried treasure

Dimples Draws up a treasure Map, and has to put a Large X that marks the spot.

We have done this so many times that he can now draw perfect X's

Sometimes we get dressed up, all out in Pirate gear and some times he is happy just to pretend.

He announces that we are going to sail the seven seas and hunt for buried treasure, Once we find it we need to hide it from Captain Hook and mark it with a X

Here he is pointing out the X and telling me that is where he has hidden the treasure.

This is a regular game at home, I can speak fluent Pirate now. Adventures Dad was laughing at me last week saying how good my Pirate Tongue is, I quite often break out some Pirate jargon is a rusky Pirate voice to get Dimples to eat all his lunch "Pirate Grub" and if he is not co-operating for some reason and it usual works a treat. He gets in to the Pirate mood and the Pirate goes along with what Ive asked. 

We have played this game so many times and it never fails to bring out Dimples imaginative play.

He runs around the yard pretending to sail the seven seas, see islands and enemy pirates, Captain Hook and the dreaded Croc. He spots light houses and sails through rough storms, gets onto skull Island where there are skull caves that he ducks through and rushed to bury his treasure before anyone can find his secret hiding spot. Then he rolls up his map for safe keeping and sails away.

Its quite simple, yet there are so many possibilities and every time when he re-discovers the treasure, its a completely new game and a completely new treasure hunt.

Rainbow Spaghetti & Bug Cooking

Play Invitation:

 Cooked Spaghetti in Rainbow colours with some plastic insects and bugs,

set out with Cooking gear & a play kitchen...

Rainbow coloured spaghetti: Cook your spaghetti, then put it in zip lock bags with a drop of oil (so it doesn't stick) & add your food colouring to dye. Soak for a while - Or ask your little one to squish it around, I did this with Dimples & he enjoyed watching the colours soak through and get vibrantly bright.

With some utensils Dimples prepared a scrumptious looking dish for our dog. Rainbow Spag, shaving cream & bugs. Demon, the dog, actually ate some spaghetti that was thrown in his bowl while Dimples went on stirring the cream through, using tongs to pick up the slippery spaghetti & "cooking" it in the pot & play oven.

Pretend cooking in his play kitchen, Dimples role played Head cook, setting the timer, stirring & mixing, putting his handle to the side, using a towl to get the "hot" food out of the oven, letting it cool before serving it.  My little Master Chef.

You can click HERE to check out my post  "The Benefits of Pretend Play" that was featured on Postiveparentingconnection.net  - This type of pretend play fits well into this post, its fun-messy-imaginative Play...

Benefits of Pretend Play

Recently I had the opportinity to do a guest post @ http://positiveparentingconnection.net which resulted in some great comments. So here is an extended version with some additional ideas, links & pictures for the Captain Underpants fans...

In a busy world with what seems to be tireless amounts of chores, it is easy to fall into a cycle of giving your child the same toys to play with each day, using the TV as a baby sitter or saying "maybe next time", "hold on, I just need to finish this first" each time your child comes running to you with underwear on their head exclaiming that they are Captain Underpants requesting that you come play with them.  As parents it is important for us to acknowledge that for a child "Play" is not just leisure but is how they learn.

Captain Underpants flying through the clouds... 

 Of course there are many forms of play and endless ways to engage in play with your child. Dramatic or Pretend Play is just one way that children benefit from immensely that will also give you a chance to positively enhance their learning experiences, their self-esteem but most importantly it can strengthen your relationship with them.

Here are some of the benefits derived from Dramatic / Pretend Play-

• Pretending:  Just the act of pretending is a learning curve for a child. It grants them with an outlet to role play what they have seen in their world. This helps them learn about how the world works and practice how adults interact.
• Social Play: Pretend play encourages negotiation, cooperation, and role playing different situations. Pretend story lines and characters, turn taking, sharing are all great skills to learn.
• Social interaction: Not only does it help with social skills but it encourages a child to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and be empathetic and considerate of others. This gives them a chance to practice behaviour, manners and language that is needed when they interact in real world situations, as well as what behaviour is acceptable in public.
• Language development: Dramatic Pretend play encourages expressive language that would not otherwise be used by the child.  Often through pretend play withdrawn children can first start to express themselves by acting a certain role.  Further, this gives the parent an opportunity to extend on language skills by paraphrasing what the child has said using more descriptive language and exchanging conversations using expressive language examples.
• Imagination: Pretend Dramatic Play is a great for showing how imaginative children are. Imagination is an important building block for learning.  It is not only important in childhood, imagination is crucial for life. Just imagine a world without it, we would not have scientists making new discoveries, artists making new artworks, Santa traditions, award winning stories like Avatar and we would not be able to cognitively process these possibilities or examples.
• Self-esteem: By giving your child complete control in their pretend world and accepting them as a silly character like Captain Underpants you are enhancing their self-esteem. While they use their own initiative to develop story lines, their creative imagination to expand stories and their own personality to choose a character they enjoy, you are enhancing their self-esteem by allowing them complete power in the world & enjoying it with them.
• Motor skills: Playing is very busy work. While pretending to be adults or role playing your child is also fine tuning their motor skills. Mixing, Pouring, scooping, cooking, squatting, lifting, serving, moving around & remaining active.
• Practice: Practice makes perfect, while they are playing & pretending they are practicing all the skills they are going to need as they grow up into adults in the real world. From simple things like dressing, measuring, serving food, cooking skills, to handling money, grocery shopping, going to the doctor, answering the phone and not to mention practicing appropriate manners, behaviours and etiquette.

 

Pretend Play: Eating out at a cafe

Try to provide some Dramatic Props:

Tea sets,
cooking utensils,



Old cooking pots
outdoor mud station mud-is-good-for-you
play kitchen,



Fresh food Shop with trolley, plastic food, food boxes & Cash register



plastic food,
a cash register,
empty food containers,
Real ingredients  eg: worms-eyeballs-goblin-finger-stew



Pretend cooking with Rainbow Spaghetti.
Doll houses,
Telephone, masks,
Dress up accesories,



Flower Stand. Playdough as mud & flower arranging.

pretend money,
wallets & bags,
a pretend shop stand,


Muffin tin, Shaving Cream & real ingredients. pretend-cooking-wild-berry-muffins

play tools,
toy doctor kit,
bandages,

Doctor mask & toy doctor kit

toy animals,
kids tool bench 
building toys
Costumes pirate-party-dress ups
Make Costumes eg: making-robot-suit
Buried Treasure treasure-hunt

By accepting your child in their make believe world you give them complete control not only over the game, but over the 'world' for that short time, this enhances their self-esteem and gives you a chance to engage in their interests and their blooming personality, share in their enjoyments and it strengthens their trust in you and the world around them.

So next time a screaming Captain underpants runs past you, grab a towel and throw it on as a Super hero cape & go rescue Big Ted from the malicious tornado that’s about to hit your house.

Happy Adventures