We often visit our local pet stores (before the quarantine!) just for fun. I don’t have the energy (or money) for a full day at the zoo once a week. The pet shop is the next best thing.
So the girls are somewhat familiar with the concept of a pet store.
They’ve been missing our pet store outings, so when I suggested we set up our own pet shop, they were so excited to start!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
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What Do You Think About dramatic Play?
Before we dive into the set up, I want to know what you think about dramatic play.
Does it seem too difficult? Do you feel like your kids aren’t getting anything out of it?
I sometimes feel overwhelmed looking at other kids’ dramatic play set ups. There’s so much detail and it’s all so neat that I get too discouraged to try it out for myself.
But I think it’s important to do a bigger dramatic play set up for my kids on occasion.
Dramatic play has really encouraged my girls to play independently and to notice how things are done or made in the real world outside of play.
By creating a focused, real world set up, kids have the opportunity to simulate and copy real life.
Have you tried setting up dramatic play areas for your kids?
Here’s what I hope my kids get out of it as they play.
Goals for Dramatic Play
My main goals as I set up a dramatic play is that it is:
- immersive
- print-rich
- toddler-friendly
- promotes independent play
I think dramatic play should be immersive. I want there to be enough stuff and enough realism for the girls to get “lost” in play in a pretend world.
Now that my oldest toddler has grown into a preschooler, I’ve bumped print up a notch. There are words on the signs, things are labeled, and I encourage writing as part of dramatic play as much as I can.
I try to make our dramatic play set-ups as toddler-friendly as possible. My youngest is a full-fledged toddler now and she isn’t mature enough to play with some things the same way as her older sister.
Having safe objects for them to act out with and play with makes it possible for them to experience independence through pretend play.
I step back and let my kids control the narrative. They choose how they want to play with the set up and what story they want to act out.
If I sense them getting bored or see an opportunity to teach them a new skill, I’ll step in and suggest or model something. But it’s always their choice as to whether they want to do it.
My oldest isn’t shy about saying how she wants to play with something!
Setting Up a Pet Shop Dramatic Play
We are intentional about buying toys that are open-ended and able to be played with in a number of different ways. This helps us be able to create a number of different play set ups like our pet shop.
For this pet shop dramatic play, we used
- all our stuffed animals
- construction paper and markers to make signs
- a notebook to make receipts and log inventory
- play food
- baby bath and grooming items
First, we sorted all the stuffed animals into categories and found a space for each of them to be. Elena (age 4) helped me with this one. Our categories were:
- dogs
- cats
- sheep
- ocean animals
- bunnies
- birds
- rainbow animals (this one was my favorite!)
I made signs for each one with their name, a drawing (please don’t judge my artistic abilities!), and Elena helped me come up with dollar amounts for each type of pet.
My tip for you, if you’re not really into dramatic play is to make things as simple and easy to do as possible. It’s OK if it’s not picture perfect.
Honestly, the simplicity seems to be more enticing for younger kids.
Playing Pet Shop
Our first time through, I played with the girls because they wanted to be customers. I didn’t do much. Just waited with the notebook until they were ready to buy. Then I wrote their names and what they bought and how much it cost.
This worked out well because I could model a more difficult role (shopkeeper) at the beginning and teach them the word “shopkeeper.”
After this, they were ready to move on to other roles.
The great thing about a pet shop set up is that there are a ton of different roles to play. They can
- buy pets (be a customer)
- sell pets (be a shopkeeper)
- groom pets
- feed pets
- make beds and put pets down for naps
I think grooming was everyone’s favorite thing to do.
Feeding was also fun because they had to think about what each animal likes to eat.
They also had to be creative with the toys we had. For instance, we didn’t have any worms or seeds for the birds, so they got out a bean shaker and pretended to pour “birdseed” into a bowl for the birds.
What Kids Can Learn Through Dramatic Play
Dramatic plays can provide opportunities for all kinds of learning.
The big things I noticed with this pet shop dramatic play were
- new vocabulary
- sequence of events
- problem solving
- categorizing
Lia learned lots of new words for animals. Elena learned receipt, shopkeeper, and grooming.
Elena practiced following a sequence of events as a shopkeeper (help customer pick out a pet, write what they bought, take their money).
The girls practiced problem-solving during feeding time when they had to work with the toys we had to act out the story they were imagining.
Elena learned about categorizing as we sorted the stuffed animals.
How Long Does This Activity Last
For us, the girls played on and off for two hours.
I kept the set up around for a week before putting all the stuff away.
We typically do a new dramatic play once a month. I try to keep things pretty simple so I don’t get too overwhelmed trying to make it “pretty” and they don’t get too overwhelmed by the choices and detail.
Will You Try a Pet Shop Dramatic Play?
Grab all your stuffed animals, make a few signs, and you’re ready to open up shop!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!