Role Play

Role play has been such a fun outlet in our home for our daughter and her friends. I posted a little bit about Kidsboro here. Kidsboro beyond the market days was a way for our “Little One” and her friends to play in many roles during there play time here. “Little One” would love to play on her own this way as well with dolls and stuffed animals. 

We got the majority of our role playing materials and ideas from Sparklebox. How fun to set up a doctor’s office, a grocer, an optometrist, a library and a veterinarian’s office. I remember “Little One” getting so excited about there being a bank machine - so we got an old box and turned it into a bank machine. Sparklebox is from the UK so everything is in pounds but it didn’t matter to the children - they just adjusted to it. 

We didn’t have a great space for all these shops. An old workshop in the back of our home, but that didn’t seem to stop the kids. They had lots of fun out there playing. 

This was a time that our trusty laminator got used alot so that the materials were a little more durable. 

There were so many great skills that went along with this type of play. Writing, reading, vocabulary, organizing, collaborating and so much more. 

Blessings!!

If I had been blogging when.... Kidsboro

 http://www.whitsend.org/en/albums/the-truth-chronicles.aspx

 Kidsboro

The far reaching learning for our daughter from the Kidsboro CD's that are part of Focus on the Family's Truth Chronicles for Children, has amazed me. The concept of Kidsboro was quickly embraced by our "little one" and many of her friends. They began planning Kidsboro events, inviting members, appointing them roles, and learning about business and local government in the process.

Last summer they had what they called 'Open Air'. It was an outdoor trading market that took place on our deck. The children each received an invitation with details on the market. When they came, the mayor who ran the market, gave them each play money that they could use to trade.

We had bakeries, candy shops, a stuffed animal zoo and rental service, a bow and arrow shop, several craft shops, a herb shop, a pet rock shop and on the list went.

There was much to be learned:

1.     Supply and demand was the first lesson for many shops. Some items were high in demand, and some were too high in supply and vice versa.

2.    The second lesson learned was value and price points. Some of the children had to lower their expectations of what their product was worth. Some learned that discounting was part of "moving their products".

3.    Marketing was another lesson, how they got others interested in their product. This was fascinating to me and very entertaining at times!

I thought that the market would last an hour or so, and the children would lose interest and want to go and play, but I was very wrong! They were still enjoying Kidsboro several hours later when their parents came and picked them up!

It was such a rewarding experience with very little work on my part. I just cleaned up from lunch and helped with some of the children's practical needs like tape, string, scissors etc.

Blessings!