Putting The Pretty In Preschool

Finding Beauty In Everyday Early Childhood Experiences

pretend play

Dessert Bar Play Center

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Hands down this dessert bar play center is one of my preschooler’s favorites. It was available for a month this past March/April and played in every single school day.

Your little learners will love playing in this tasty dessert bar dramatic play center with a coffee brewing station.

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Supplies To Collect

No store is off-limits when gathering supplies for this tasty dramatic play center. Since it’s easy to find play food and kitchenware sets, the center is pretty effortless to put together.

Items in this dessert bar are:

  • a variety of cupcakes and cookies
  • brownie set
  • muffins
  • pie
  • cake slice
  • disposable plates
  • cutlery
  • cups and saucers
  • food trays
  • coffee brewing set
  • cash register
  • play money
  • vase with flowers

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The Dessert Bar Play Center

A shelving unit showcases the desserts beautifully.

Delectable dessert bar play food displayed on a shelf with see-through cubicles.

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A table and chair set make a cozy area to “eat” dessert. A mammoth mom and baby joined in this setup!

A dessert bar tablescape ready to be enjoyed by little learners.

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A play coffee brewing set is nice to have. Mine came from a discount store, and the children loved making and serving coffee with it.

A coffee brewing station is a fun addition to a dessert bar dramatic play center.

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This elegant little tray was a happy find at a dollar store, and I snapped up a few. They weren’t available long, so I’m sure other people realized how special they were too. The shiny trays showcase the desserts well.

A shiny play tray to add elegance to a dessert bar play center.

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A sign and menu posted on a wall indicate the type of restaurant and what is served. Pictures of desserts accompanied by captions help create an ambiance.

Add ambiance to a dessert bar play center with a sign, menu, and pictorial quotes.

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The menu is helpful to check prices and see how much to pay for orders. When the food is laid out like a chart, it makes it easy for preschoolers to add up how much an order costs.

Make a graph with play food to show how much a dessert bar order costs.

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Benefits Of The Dessert Bar Center

Aside from counting and addition opportunities, this center allows children to make choices by selecting desserts. And they can practice turn-taking and role-playing by being the server and the customer.

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Enhancing The Dessert Bar

After a few days, setting out a new dessert such as a play cake set would help keep children’s interest in the center going. And pictorial signs attached to shelving cubicles would enhance the literacy component and give opportunities for sorting and matching desserts. Can you think of anything else to add?

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Your little learners will love playing in this tasty dessert bar pretend play center with a coffee brewing station.

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This dessert bar play center is bound to be a hit with your little learners. Just a few supplies provide many opportunities for vibrant learning through play. Start out with economical play food, such as dollar store cupcake and cake sets. The selection of desserts need not be elaborate…children will love the center no matter how big or small it is.

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Related: Winter Wonderland Tablescape

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St. Patrick’s Day Tablescape

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This St. Patrick's Day tablescape is filled with green and gold loose parts, perfect for encouraging imaginative play.

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My preschoolers love loose parts. One of the places they especially enjoy using them is in the play kitchen. Lately, unless loose parts are added to the center, they aren’t too impressed. And so for the first few weeks of March. I set up this St. Patrick’s Day tablescape.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

Set up this inviting St. Patrick's Day tablescape that is filled with green and gold loose parts to spark creative, imaginative play.

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Here are table décor and loose parts to gather for an eye-popping St. Pat’s tablescape. You can go all out in adding accessories or just choose a few items.

  • shamrock-themed plates, cups, napkins, and serving tray
  • green bowls, serving utensils, and ice cube tray
  • orange, green, and yellow cutlery
  • plastic shamrock “coasters”
  • yellow, green, and orange fruit and vegetable play food
  • felt “cookies and pretzels”
  • green buttons, bottlecaps, eggs, and marbles
  • leprechaun hat, rainbow, and shamrock erasers
  • green beads and bead strips cut from garland
  • yellow and green pom poms
  • gold and green coins
  • light up green teddy bear
  • St. Patrick’s Day necklaces and bracelets
  • metallic shamrock table scatter
  • white and green carnations in a plastic jar vase
  • green or orange plastic tablecloth

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The St. Patrick’s Day Tablescape

Arrange the table décor and loose parts on toy shelves and in play kitchen appliances. There will be many inviting pieces for early learners to explore and use.

Set up this cheery St. Patrick's Day tablescape that is filled with green and gold loose parts and plenty of shamrocks.

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The tablescape above is mostly done in shades of green with a little bit of gold. In the set-up below, an orange tablecloth and green, yellow, and orange produce add color to the play center.

Set up this inviting St. Patrick's Day tablescape that is filled with green, yellow, and orange loose parts to spark creative, imaginative play.

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Including a variety of loose parts allows children to use their imagination in dramatic play. Garland strips become green noodles, marbles transform into pickles, and pot of gold erasers are served as popcorn. Other pieces are used to make cake batter for a triple-layer cake. This serves up a whole lotta fun!

As said earlier, it is okay to set out just a few of the above supplies. They will add interest to dramatic play activities, and help your early learners join in on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

Set up this cheery St. Patrick's Day tablescape that is filled with green, yellow, and orange loose parts and plenty of shamrocks.

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Related: St. Patrick’s Day Store

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Ladybug Wand Craft

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Cute ladybug wand craft early learners will love to make and play with. A host of ladybug facts are included in the post.

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Last month my preschoolers made simple snowflake wands to coordinate with winter and “Frozen” activities. The crafted wands generated lots of enthusiasm, and children were excited to use them in play. Because of their exuberant response, I decided to offer similar projects in the future. This ladybug wand craft is the next one we will do. I’m sure my little learners will enjoy making it, and I think yours will too!

With wings cut from a heart, this cute craft fits in perfectly with Valentine’s Day but could be offered in spring or any other time of the year.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

For this buggy craft, gather the following:

  • red and black cardstock
  • black adhesive gems
  • red and white thin ribbon
  • wiggly eyes
  • straws
  • glue stick
  • glue gun
  • scissors

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Making The Ladybug Wand Craft

Steps to make a cute ladybug wand craft early learners will love to help create and play with.

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First, cut large circular ladybug bodies from black cardstock, and similar-sized hearts from red. Then cut the red hearts in half to become wings.

Snip a few kinds of ribbon into strands about the length of a straw. Hot glue the ribbon strands to the top of the straws.

Then invite children to add black adhesive gem spots to a pair of red wings, and adhere them to their circle with a glue stick.

Afterward, they can add a pair of wiggly eyes.

Finally, glue the ladybugs to the top of the straws and invite crafters to play with their wands.

Cute ladybug wand craft early learners will love to make and play with. A host of ladybug facts are included in the post.

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Ladybug Facts

Ladybugs are well-loved by children. Even when they don’t especially like other insects, little learners are usually excited to hold a dainty ladybug and study it closely. Here are facts to share with little ones when they spot ladybugs while playing.

  • Ladybugs are a kind of beetle and can be found in a variety of habitats.
  • There are more than 5000 kinds of ladybugs.
  • Although shiny, red and black spotted dome shaped ladybugs are most familiar in North America, these adored creatures come in a variety of bright colors.
  • Ladybugs have from five to twenty spots, which can fade over time.
  • Their colors and spots help warn predators that they are not pleasant to eat.
  • With their six feet and two antennae, ladybugs smell and look for food. They use their front legs to clean their heads and antennae.
  • Their two eyes can distinguish between dark and light, but ladybugs don’t see well.
  • A pair of colorful hard, top wings protect two transparent, veined inner flying wings.
  • Ladybugs help the environment by eating pesky bugs such as aphids and mites, and spreading pollen.
A host of ladybug facts to share with early learners.

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  • Birds are huge predators. Other animals that like to eat ladybugs are frogs, lizards, wasps, spiders, and dragonflies.
  • In addition to flashing their spots and bright colors, ladybugs secrete oily, stinky, bad tasting, yellow drops of fluid from joints in their legs to discourage predators. They can also play dead.
  • Ladybugs are either male or female.
  • Over a period of about seven weeks, ladybugs develop in four stages: eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults.
  • Tiny yellow eggs are laid in batches on the underside of leaves near aphid colonies.
  • Colonies of ladybugs hibernate over the winter in warm spots such as in rotting logs or ground cover, or under rocks and snowdrifts. Thousands of these little bugs may gather together.
  • Ladybugs commonly live for about one year, but some live two to three years.

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It’ll soon be spring, and all kinds of bugs will be crawling around. You’ll want to include this captivating ladybug wand craft in your insect theme activities. You could also offer it for Valentine’s Day along with the love bug headband craft featured below.

Pair a ladybug wand craft with a love bug headband for a session of buggy dramatic play.

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Related: Spider Theme Activities

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Kids’ Winter Wonderland Tablescape

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A sparkly, kids' Winter Wonderland tablescape with snowman, snowflake, and snowball accessories for little learners to explore.

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Catching fluttery snowflakes on mittens, building a humungous snowman, and having a splattering snowball fight are all activities little learners gleefully participate in outside. This inviting kids’ winter wonderland tablescape takes snowflake, snowmen, and snowball activities indoors for further snow-themed exploration.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Kids’ Winter Wonderland Tablescape Supplies

Let your little learners explore a sparkly Winter Wonderland tablescape with snowmen, snowflake, and snowball accessories.

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For this cozy pretend play setup, I feature snowmen, snowball, and snowflake accessories from the supplies I have available. Craft bits and other loose parts feature prominently in the resulting collection.

Items in the winter tablescape:

  • snowman-themed tablecloth, dinner plates, cups, baking dish, oven mitts, cookie tin, and bottle
  • snowflake erasers
  • foam snowflakes
  • snowflakes cut from garland
  • blue and clear gem snowflakes
  • snowflake serving utensils, cupcake liners, and tin
  • large and small styrofoam balls
  • round winter-themed gems
  • cookie sheet
  • muffin tin
  • plastic forks and spoons
  • play food buns
  • Winter Wonderland sign

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Setting Up The Tablescape

Changing up the decor in our play kitchen is one of my favorite things to do. And little learners always eagerly dive into each new setup.

When it's cold and chilly outside little learners can explore snowmen, snowflakes, and snowballs indoors in a Winter Wonderland play tablescape.

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For this kids’ winter wonderland tablescape, a fabric snowman-themed tablecloth is a base.

The buns are the only real play food on the table.

A variety of loose parts add a dose of glam, and little learners can imagine them to be any number of foods. For instance, the foam snowflakes make good cookies to bake in the play oven. The large foam craft balls can be reimagined as snowball cookies.

A sparkly, kids' Winter Wonderland play tablescape with snowman, snowflake, and snowball decor for little learners to explore.

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And the smaller loose parts displayed in the snowman baking tin and scattered around the table could be candy.

A sparkly, kids' Winter Wonderland pretend play setup with snowman, snowflake, and snowball play kitchen decor for little learners to explore.

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A polar animal theme would work fabulously for winter pretend play too. Here’s a super fun penguin-themed tablescape by birdsparty.com.

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Related: Chinese New Year Tablescape Play Invitation

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