"Order Up!" at the Coffee Shop

Our classroom has been buzzing with the opening of our coffee shop in the Dramatic Play Area! This game started with just one child's idea and quickly expanded into a collaborative effort with most of the children in our class. The children bring in different experiences from their lives and this can be shown in their play. You can hear some of the children yelling order numbers to the chef/barista, asking customers if they'd like their drinks "hot or iced?" and customers asking for a side of "cheese danish" with their order. It's fascinating to observe their interactions with one another and their perceptions of the world around them.

Learning through play is vital in children's early lives. It is a hands on experience that allows them to develop language, communicate, and make understanding of themselves and people. They are also learning specific skills like counting and number awareness (how many drinks do you want?), writing and drawing (creating signs and menus for the coffee shop), letter and print awareness (reading the menus), and measurement and size awareness (finding correct sized cups), and so much more. Teaching these skills through play encourages children to use these skills in real situations, the way that adults do!

We'd love to see more of the children's real life experiences in cafes and coffee shops! If you happen to go to one over the weekend, please take a photo of the children and send them our way! We'll post the pictures of them in our classroom coffee shop.

"What size do you want?"

Children created Starbucks signs for the coffee shop using green paper. They trace and cut out a large circle shape, sound out the letters of "Starbucks" to write it on their signs!