While they were busy the other day, I set up a little Invitation to Play Doctors, utilising the free printable Toy Check-up Checklist from the Disney Junior website, some willing toys as patients and other bits and bobs from around the house.
Setting up your pretend Doctors Surgery
For our Dr's Tools I used a range of materials from store bought to recycled items.
You can use whatever you have on hand, remembering that children have fabulous imaginations and don't need exact replicas to be able to play.
We used:
- Pretend play Drs tools from our dress-ups (these can be purchased cheaply from variety stores)
- Craft materials (cotton buds and cotton balls. You can also use craft sticks etc.)
- Rubber gloves
- Paper tape (coloured masking tape for bandaids and holding bandages together)
- Recycled ribbons, scraps of material and cut up recycled packaging (for bandages)
- Measuring tape/ruler
- Doctor/vet dress-ups (one of Dad's shirts would work well as a Doctor's coat too)
- Free printable check-up list
You and/or your children can make a simple sign for your Doctor's Surgery. It's easy to add authentic literacy learning into your pretend play by including things for them to read and write.
As well as our Dr's tool station, there was a "waiting room" for all the toys and a "bed" for them to have their check-up on.
All set up, time to play!
Learning with Pretend Play
When involved in role play, children are given opportunities to practice and develop a whole range of skills depending on the type of play and materials used.
This type of play is very important for children as it allows for hands-on investigation and creativity, in a context that makes sense to them.
This provides a rich and authentic learning experience.
During their Doctors role play my children practiced:
- cooperation
- imagination
- story telling
- language
- body part knowledge
- fine motor skills
- sharing
- being doctors
- simple medical knowledge
- reading
- writing
- counting
- compromising
- being kind
Maddie (aged 5) played for around an hour and her younger brother (aged almost 3) was engaged for quite a bit of that time but would wander off from the play and then return to it when he felt like it. The toys were feeling much better by the end.
To get a copy of the Free Printable Doctor's Checklist for your kids to use in their Toy Doctor Pretend play, click the picture above.
What's your child's favourite type of pretend play?
Happy playing,
Debs :)
Look where else we are. Are you following along? :)
