As we mark the first days of fall at preschool, it is time to open our Apple Market. Our dramatic play area changes throughout the year. It begins as a house, which brings can bring comfort to some of our more anxious preschoolers. Today, it became an Apple Market.
I set the stage with a few teacher made props ,including this open/closed sign. I also placed several varieties of apples there, with a simple balance, cash register, calculators, paper bags, pens, and paper.
As centers began, there were 14 children working in the area ( I must have done a good job introducing the new center!), I have learned to wait, and give the children a chance to figure out for themselves that that is too many.
Soon enough, they began to drift away, and the children who stayed got involved in some very meaningful play.
We found 2 apples that weighed the same!
We found out that 2 apples weigh more than one.
As we shopped for apples, we realized that we needed money. I find myself on both sides of this "real vs play vs use your imagination" fence. I guess that is 3 sides...
One school of thought is that preschoolers should be using real tools for play instead of toy copies. In this example, we used real apples. It would have been easier to use plastic ones, but less realistic. Another school of thought is that we should be using our imagination, and selling pretend apples. That works great for some kids, but other just need a little more concrete of an experience.
So, back to the money. We needed some. We could pretend we had some, use the real stuff, or in this case, make some! Mrs. Rae and I gathered up all of the cash we had and placed it on the table. We used magnifying glasses to look at the money carefully. We noted what was special on each bill. We saw letters, numbers, important people, and buildings.
We noted the shape and colors. The boys and girls made their requests and I found the items that they needed to make their money: green pencil, white paper, scissors.
They got right to work. This fellow wrote the number word one.
He included a picture of his "Pa" (an important person) on the front of the bill.
"See, Pa used to have a mustache, but he doesn't any more."
We filled that cash register up. At one point, in addition to the ones working at the group table, I noticed children making coins in the writing center and green bills in the art center. They were so focused and engaged. Yes, it would have been simple to hand out plastic money, and perfectly fine, but for today I made the right decision. This one exercise had us talking shapes, colors, numbers, letters, value, presidents, cutting straight and curved lines, thinking and imagining. Facilitating has never been more fun!
Then, M says, we need a gift card. This time Mrs. Rae and I came up short. We had to settle for a MVP card. M inspected it and decided we needed plastic to make a gift card. I found a notebook divider that would suffice, and we made gift cards. I love their ideas and they feel free to exercise them.
After a long day at work, it was time to close up shop. The boys turned the sign with the promise that we would open again tomorrow. Can't wait to see what they come up with next!
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