Role Play

Rebekah will be 4 in 4 days, and Luke turned 2 in April.  With their new ages has come a beautiful partnership in play that I cherish!  I have really loved seeing them embrace one another as great play mates.  In fact, the other days, they were stompin’ around together and I happily asked, “What are y’all doing?”  Rebekah looked at me, grinned, and said, “We’re being best friends!”

As for actual playing, Rebekah is pretty creative.  I can honestly say that she is a treasure of a daughter and a gem of a big sister.  99% of the time, Rebekah is thrilled to play with Luke and often invites him to her room or outside for various activities.  I love how she pretends, too!  Bekah has had an active imagination for quite some time, and we are starting to see Luke’s develop, too!  As a result, I have been a wee bit more creative in our play at home.  I have mentioned before how much our kids love it when we play with them in their rooms and how much Rebekah loves role play.  I copied Rebekah’s preschool program by setting up a play area with a specific theme: tea party!  While I pulled out a card table and the basics, I really enjoyed watching Rebekah add the details, such as sugar, milk, and biscuits.   Luke was an eager party attender, as well, and LOVED pretending to pour milk and dump sugar in his “tea” cup.

Tea Party in Bekah's room!

You can now see why that IKEA tea set is an essential birthday gift for Rebekah!

How to set up play themes

There aren’t a lot of rules per se, but here is what I would recommmend:

• Think of a theme {see below for ideas}
• Look around the house for items you can use {very frugal, I know!}
• Have the child help you set up and think of ideas
• You set the boundaries, such as in their room
• Play with the children!
• Ask the kids for new ideas or ways to enhance the current one.

Possible Themes

Here are the ideas I have.  While I have some of the following props, we often use something else in its place- by helping your child be imaginative in their play, you are fostering creativity and frugality in their little hearts and minds!

• Tea Party- table, chairs {edge of bed!}, tea set, pretend food
• Kitchen- a play kitchen, or just the top of a dresser, pretend food, a grocery cart, a cash register
• Nursery- dolls, baby accessories, crib/bed, high chair, stroller, diaper bag
• School/ class room- teacher desk, student desk, paper, colors {if you dare!}, chalkboard/dry erase board
• Pet Store- stuffed animals, price tags, cash register {teaches them about money, too!}, play money
• Restaurant- table and chairs, pretend food, plates, plastic ware, menu, bill,cash register, play money {You could even fold a dish towel and tuck the edge in your child’s waist band for a waiter “look”}

I have been astonished how many ideas Rebekah has!  Last summer, we would take trips to the park, to Burger King, and have meetings- all in a small bathroom!  She would use her cash register as her “computer” and would go to work.  She sets up parks for her little people.  When we did a nursery, Rebekah pulled down 2 boxes to be chairs for her babies, set them up against the dresser so they wouldn’t fall, turned over a laundry basket for a “snack table”, and used a skirt for a tablecloth- all on her own!  It has never occurred to Rebekah that we don’t have exactly what we need to make an idea come to life!  In fact, most of her jerry-rigged contraptions are better than a life-like toy.

For more TILT, check out Diaper Diaries.

{If you do want to buy some things, check out Craig’s List, eBay, charity shops, Good Will, and consignment shops before you run out to Target- you’ll be amazed at how many things you can find cheap!}