In the last few weeks, the children have initiated a lot of restaurant play. Picking up on their cues, the housekeeping area has been transformed into their own restaurant, with aprons for the cooks and a little table for customers to sit at. Atop the table sits a tray with condiments and a little vase with a flower tucked inside, just as a real restaurant might. We've also added a toaster, butter, forks, spoons and plates to our props, and right away the restaurant play began in earnest.
T was the customer, J made up some eggs and toast while S toiled over a hot stove, making "potato soup". I brought out the tiny pieces that belong to our tea set, and T was curious about the play tea bags, wondering aloud what they were.
Making teas is easy to demonstrate, and so became an experiment. I put a kettle on in the adult kitchen and got out two mugs; when the water boiled, one mug was filled with just water, the other with water and a tea bag. T watched how the water changed color as the tea bag let its liqueur seep into the hot water and then scampered off, satisfied with what he'd seen. The next morning he asked for the tea things right away when the restaurant opened.
On Wednesday, when all the children were present, I brought up the idea of a menu. Because our children aren't reading yet, we don't always show them the menu when we dine out, but they are very aware that we adults often use one. I asked them what should go on a menu for our restaurant. T suggested pasta, while V countered with "noonles" and we all agreed that pasta and noodles could both be on the menu. S thought soup should be included. Toast, eggs, pancakes, tea and fruit salad rounded it out. Like good cooks, they seemed to be referencing what was in the kitchen. (The menu is now on the wall, with illustrations as well as words, so that our young patrons might point to their selection if need be.)
A glimpse into our new venture:
V: "You cook and serve me."
T: "What do you want for food?"
V: "I don't know."
T: "Pasta or pizza?"
V: "Pizza"
T: "It's too hot. You'll burn your mouth."
A minute later:
T: "I like pizza because I like sauce."
J: "You have a saucy mouth."
Sometimes it gets a little silly. Somehow crackers came up. When asked what they liked on their crackers, S replied, "sauce, tomato sauce"; T said he liked pesto; and V emphatically added "gummy bears" to the list of toppings.
On Thursday, we changed the words of a children's rhythm song into a restaurant song, the children calling out their favorite foods to eat at a restaurant when their turn rolled around. I have a feeling we'll be singing it again next week. We also spent some time cutting up a grocery advertising circular, choosing the foods we like and taping them to a big piece of paper. There was such variety--steak, yogurt, bananas, broccoli, oranges, bread, as well as donuts, ice cream and cookies. The donut conversation kept on, so I cut out cardstock donuts and brought out markers so that the "decorations" could be added. Apparently, everyone likes lots of sprinkles on their donuts.
Wednesday we spent a bit of time on playing with letters. Along with singing our ABC's and making letter shapes with our bodies, I also had the letters of each child's name cut out for them to glue on. This was more about offering experiential, three-dimensional exposure to the letters in their names than anything else. Orienting letters can be challenging for some children at this age, and I believe that just having a chance to pick up each letter, to look at it, and to see it as an object all of it's own is a helpful experience, as our children only usually see their names two-dimensionally. I also offered small wooden spelling puzzles: each puzzle is a word accompanied by a corresponding picture, and each piece contains only one letter. It's a tangible way to see how words are formed, and we'll be bringing them out again. We also filled up the big washtub with water and foam letters for the kids to play with, as well as some sink/float items. They enjoyed finding the letters of their name in the "big soup".
I've written so much already, so here are a few more moments from our week:
Our dollhouse was a second, mini restaurant, complete with appropriate furniture. T was immersed in this, building a long footpath and adding a tv (the small coffee table was propped up diagonally against a wall). It was deemed a "zoo restaurant" and then T and S began playing zoo, complete with tickets to get in.
Sandcastle play is going strong in the sandbox. We are learning to ask before stomping someone else's castles. Rosemary sprigs, glass gems and leaves decorated the houses in one "community", and a lake was made in the corner of the sandbox, until it seeped down and became a bog. Oh well!
Ice was introduced to the sandbox. We propped some flat pieces of wood up as slides and experimented with sliding the ice cubes down and discovered that sandy boards don't work as well as clean ones with water.
Indoors, on the rug, T explaining how to use a ramp to V, rolling nuts down, while S and J used the second ramp to roll down some glass gems. They are now building enclosures with blocks to corral the sliding objects at the bottom.
S, J and V playing babies, crawling on the floor and making baby sounds. Later, they shouted in unison "I LIKE RATS!"
J building a "tickling place" with blocks.
V and J using forks and spoons as rhythm instruments and dancing. Blocks were used as guitars.
V balances a long block on her knee, tilting it up and down. "Look! A teeter-totter!"
We'll see all of you next week for more restaurant play and our new menu!
