Great excitement today when some of our boys found the aprons in the home corner. One suggested they put the cooking things on so they could be chefs. Others quickly came across to try some of the food they were preparing. Staff entered to extend their conversations and add some terminology to the conversation such as aprons, spatulas etc and to extend their knowledge of foods such as eggplant, zucchinni, asparagus . The play then incorporated the use of the phone answering calls from mums. This then progressed to customers ringing in orders of food they wanted to come pick up. One of the children was answering and relaying orders to another who was pretending to write it down on his pretend note pad. Another child was then sourcing the ingredients and cooking it on the microwave. The boys all packaged the foods into plastic take away containers and placed them on the shelves next to the entrance to their restaurant . The boys called out when the customer arrived to the staff member so she could collect the money owing. Prices ranged from $500 to $1. ( Hope it was extraordinary ) This play continued to evolve with beautiful cooperative play occurring. Other children came into the play and the boys demonstrated inclusive play at all times. They were able to negotiate roles and take turns, listen to others ideas and use their imaginations for equipment they didn’t have. ( ex; notepad)

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OUTCOME 2 : Children are connected with and contribute to their world.

Social play opportunities within the room support our connection to others, provide opportunities to role play and explore different people and points of view. Through our PLAY we discover and learn in this instance about food, restaurants, staff working as a team, names of some foods we may not have eaten and different ways to cook and utensils to use when cooking.

  • Be playful and responsive to peers ( Wellbeing)
  • Engage in complex cooperative play ( Community)
  • Share resources and take turns, understand the rights of others
  • Express ideas, feelings when playing
  • Demonstrate the ability to listen to and respect others
  • Express wonder & interest ( Identity)
  • Extend own interests in play

Ways we plan to build on this experience include making our own dough this fortnight, doing some real cooking with recipes and measuring equipment. We will also add notepads for fine motor skill development writing orders etc and cash register, money, pictures chefs working and pots, pans and more utensils.

Play and Learning EVOLVING!

Nadine O’Brien