I am so excited to be joining the Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and many other wonderful bloggers in the 2014-2015 Poppins Book Nook! The Poppins Book Nook is a monthly themed virtual book club for kids ages preschool and up. Each month participants will read a book based on that month’s theme and share crafts and activities that go along with the book on the last Monday of every month. It’s a great way to learn about different topics, build literacy skills and have some fun!
The theme for August’s Poppins Book Nook is “What Will I Be When I Grow Up?”. This isn’t a topic that I’ve talked about with Caden very much. He pretty much thinks everyone works on computers like his Daddy. So I decided to take a community helpers look at careers and when I found Richard Scarry’s book “What Do People Do All Day?” I thought it was the perfect fit for this theme.
We had so much fun playing in Busytown and pretending to be different community helpers! The night before I set everything up so there would be a fun surprise when Caden woke up the next day! It was really spur of the moment and very simple! Pretend play doesn’t have to be elaborate, kids have great imaginations!
This simple sign greeted Caden when he came down the stairs the next morning!
I set up a simple airplane in the dining area and used free printables from Playdough to Plato. These printables are wonderful and are offered as a free sample to the Jumbo Pretend Play Pack.
I also set up Caden’s Workshop in the dining area! This was a fun addition because it had been in the basement for some time now. It is fun to rotate toys around the house so kids don’t get bored with the same toys all the time. Caden loved all the signs I put around the house! I love that he asked me what they all said. This is a simple way to bring print awareness into play.
I also set up a grocery store in the play area! I clear a couple of toy shelves to set up the produce, brought the shopping cart up from the basement and set up the cash register. I printed off some free grocery store printables from Pre-K Pages to enhance our play. I also added some more handwritten signs!
By far, Caden’s favorite pretend play set up was the post office! To set up this table, I dug out some old stationary desk organizers we had in the basement, added some paper and envelopes along with our jar of markers and a small play mail box.
He loved “writing” letters, stuffing envelopes, putting them in the mailbox and delivering them to the address.
I also set up a doctor’s office in Caden’s bedroom. I used free printables from Toddler Approved and taped them to the wall. Then we played with his doctor kit. Daddy even got in on the fun of this pretend play scene!
When I Grow Up Bundle Giveaway! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win a bundle of fun for the theme of When I Grow Up. This bundle will include a copy of the storybook When I Grow Up by Mercer Mayer, one copy of Community Helpers Puzzles by Trend, and one copy of Community Helpers & Careers Pocket Flash Cards by Trend.
Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s disclosures found here. Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:
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Please come back & join us on September 29th when we share all our “The Wild West” Book Activities!
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Clip Art by Melon Headz
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It’s one of our favorite books, and I love what you did with it. I am going to feature this post in my upcoming book recommendations for 5 year olds!
Thanks Natalie!
Such a cute idea. My daughter just turned two but when she grows up I just want her to be happy.
Thank you! Me too!
What great ideas for exploring busy town via dramatic play!
Thank you for helping to bring a spoonful of reading fun to the Poppins Book Nook this month!
I love all the pretend play ideas! I used to play that airplane with the chairs all the time – only mine was a train! 😉
My oldest wants to be a fire fighter and cyclocross racer in his down time.
We love pretend play at our house and just made a pretend x-ray machine for our “doctor office”.
What fun! I have dreams of having a play room that always has a town set up in it, but alas, that never appears to work out!