My husband commutes into the city everyday and we are left with little family time during the week. So to fit some family fun in we decided to turn dinner time into play time ! My son and I planned the meal, the menu and even met my husband at the door “in character”. It was a blast! Pretend play is a major part of preschooler’s play and there are ample opportunities to learn or simply connect with your kids within pretend play.
- Gather your materials. Grab some paper and a marker to make a menu and get your food cooking! A you can see our menu was kind of spendy! Let your child set the prices.
- Make some table settings that are appropriate for the restaurant you are pretending to be, for us it was a local fish and chips shop so we gathered up some ketchup, tartar sauce and set the table with the obligatory water. We rolled our silverware in paper towels and taped it with some paper.
- We prepared the bread and butter.
- Met our customer at the door… that sign is sitting on our Recycled Music Stand we made a while back.
- Took his order
- Then I took his order- hey there are no rules to pretend play the waiter eats with the customers at our restaurant.
- Enjoyed some appetizers and ate our food.
- Then presented him with our bill. If you have older siblings this would be a fun part to practice addition, explain taxes etc…
Remember to have fun even if the only time you have to do it is dinner time on a busy weekday!
15 Responses to “Pretend Play- During Dinner!”
Leave a Reply
FREE Weekly Plan By Email
Find Us On Scholastic.com
Take Us With You
Grab Our Button
Oh goodness, this one looks like such fun! Great idea!!!
.-= Chesh´s last blog ..don’t say a word… =-.
How FUN! My oldest would love this. I think we’ll do this tomorrow. Thanks!
.-= Sharon´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: High-Five in Action =-.
The girls will be all over this! Thanks for sharing your fun with the little Mister!
That’s such a great idea! My niece took everyone’s “order” with our travel sized magna-doodle when we were out to dinner at a “fancy res-trunt”.
Your bill was staggering… oh how I would have loved to be your waitress!
.-= Sara – The Football Wife´s last blog ..She’s Got a Potty Mouth =-.
I know and the organic tater tots were $$
and weren’t even good. Next time I give in to my son’s request for them ( normally with fish we have sweet potato fries) I will go all the way and get the real “bad” ones that cook up properly, and embrace a junk food day now and then.
What a fun idea! We try to fit play in when we can also, since we have limited time at home. I never knew, before having my son, that the hour between 7 and 8 a.m. is for play.
Such an awesome game!
Your restaurant is kind of expensive though
Love this idea (and lots of others.)
Being that I wait tables on the weekends, my girls often play server and will get drinks and crackers,etc. They write down the order, but I like how thought out your role play dinner was from the seating to the bill- so cute. They actually were reading your post w/ me and want to try it your way! Thanks for posting- at 6 and 8, they still enjoy pretend play- my little actresses.
.-= Jen´s last blog ..How to Make an Inexpensive Fairy Wand =-.
This was so fun!
Made Dad feel very loved and made my girls feel very, very grown up.
They want to do it every night now.
What a smart way to make an average night into an unforgettable one.
Aww I am so glad everyone enjoyed themselves. It really is about making something special from something mundane!
I love this! Grace is accustomed to eating out in restaurants, and it’s a nasty habit that Joe and I are looking to curtail. This would make eating at home so much fun!
I’m going to include this in Things to Write Home About. Love it!
.-= Tara @ Feels like home´s last blog ..What is This Plant? =-.
[...] at No Time for Flash Cards posted Make Dinner Playtime. It’s a MUST read, especially if your children like going out to [...]
This is very creative! $20 for bread and butter?!
Good stuff, we will definitely try it.
[...] No Time for Flash Cards - restaurant dramatic play idea. [...]