winter

Activities with loose parts are definitely a favorite of mine, and there are many dramatic play centers featuring loose parts on this blog. This beautiful printable Snowflake Café dramatic play set is an alternative winter pretend play center. It is easy to set up and gentle on the budget, and it offers many learning benefits.

_______

The Snowflake Cafe Dramatic Play Set

Whether you live in a climate with snowy periods or not, you can bring winter into your classroom or home with these cozy Snowflake Café printables. Setting the printables up in a dramatic play center will add fresh excitement and creativity to a winter theme. The printables are also perfect for a play date or a family road trip.

_______

Children get scissor skill practice when helping cut the cookies and hot chocolate. The snipping activity is a great choice for children who finish other tasks early or can be used as a center activity. When participating in a group, children will enjoy socializing while they practice cutting.

_______

Checking out the price list and filling out order forms gives children practice in reading, counting, and making choices.

Using play money is just plain fun, and customers and cashiers get practice in counting, adding, and subtracting.

_______

Some children will seize the opportunity to invent their own recipe. Doing a group baking session near the beginning of introducing the winter dramatic play center will help with ideas for what to include.

_______

Choosing blue, purple or traditional hot chocolate for a pretend drink adds interest to the center. Turning white hot chocolate into blue and/or purple would be a fun science activity to do in addition to offering this center.

What’s Included in the Printable Snowflake Cafe

This gorgeous winter dramatic play set with 40 PNGs includes :

9 winter-themed cookie choices
Cookies in cookie pans
3 hot chocolate choices
Snowflake Café signs
Open & Closed signs
Price list/menu
Daily Special sign
Two styles of order forms (perfect for different ages and skill levels)
Store labels for organizing your café setup
Play money
Recipe suggestion form

_______

Color Theme Possibilities

With 40 printables to choose from, there are a variety of printing options. You could pick a blue, purple, or mixed color theme.

_______

The printables in the Snowflake Café digital download are easy to prep and store. They can be printed on cardstock and will be quite durable. Printing on regular paper and laminating the sheets before cutting is also a good option.

_______

Benefits of the Snowflake Cafe Dramatic Play Center

The Snowflake Cafe has the following benefits:

Practice in teamwork when setting up the center.
Role-play: store stocker, cashier, server, and customer.
Practice in reading and writing.
Opportunity to count, add, subtract, and sort.
Turn-taking opportunities with role play and ordering food.
Making choices as to what tasty treats to purchase.
Exercising creativity in coming up with new recipes.

_______

This printable Snowflake Café dramatic play set is a delightful way to keep children learning and playing during the holiday or winter season. It is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, or early elementary students. It will add cheer to a winter day at home or school.

_______

Related: Pastel Christmas Bakery

_______

[Read more…]

December is an exciting but super busy time of year. The sights and sounds, extra holiday activities, and many tasks to be completed can make people self-absorbed and overwhelmed. There is also much focus on gift-giving and gift-getting.

_______

These two child-friendly kindness activities encourage children and their family members or classmates to show empathy and goodwill to others, and take the focus off themselves. They also show that there are many ways to show kindness to others besides gift-giving.

_______

December Kindness Calendar

A Kindness Calendar gives children simple, achievable task suggestions to help brighten someone else’s world.

_______

To create and use a kindness calendar, fill in a unique, easy-to-do kindness challenge for each day of the month of December.

Then every morning, read the challenge of the day and encourage participants to do it.

Later on in the day, discuss the impact the thoughtful task had on everyone involved.

_______

December Kindness Jar

A Kindness Jar is another way to encourage children and adults to take time to do caring acts for others.

To create this activity, first choose a mason jar, food container, or large cup. Decorate it and write the words “Kindness Jar” on it. Add a tied ribbon and more embellishments if you wish.

_______

Next, write various acts of kindness on small slips of paper and place them in the “jar”. Invite family members or classmates to give suggestions if there is time.

Then, each day, one person draws a slip, and everyone who is participating performs the task. Getting to pick a random challenge adds fun to the activity.

The Kindness Jar activities can be completed in one or two weeks, or during the entire month of December.

As with the Kindness Calendar, take time later to discuss how the tasks went.

_______

December Kindness Activities Printable Set

Instead of making up your own kindness tasks, this gorgeous pastel holiday printable set in my Skills N Smiles Etsy Shop is available to purchase for a low-low price. Download it, and you’ll have the December Kindness Activities ready in minutes!

_______

These December kindness activities are great for building social-emotional skills, encouraging a feeling of community, and teaching children that small actions can have a big impact.

_______