Home Corner

[Guest terrydoo73]

We are a playgroup just back 3 weeks. Some of our children returned to us from June and we want to enhance our home corner for them. At present we have out the usual plates, cups, spoons, knives, toaster, kettle, bread, breadboard and knife with a saucepan for potatoes and an egg cup with egg in it. Then in the larder cupboard are loads of things like milk carton, butter carton, biscuit tins and other "real" looking items as well as the usual large handled utensils like potato masher, wooden spoon etc.

 

All our children do at present is take everything off the table ie plates etc and dump them into the sink then pretend to wash and dry and put them back out again. We encourage them to say make a cup of tea or some toast with a boiled egg but they are getting a bit fed up doing this repeatedly. What could we do to enhance the area?

[suebear]

Just a couple of ideas:

Clothes and a washing machine (cardboard box with a hole in it) link into pegs and a washing line

A mobile phone and an old phone so they can ring each other

A highchair so they can feed the dolls there too

Someone a bit back on here had the idea of a cardboard box being used as a tv and the children standing in it performing to their friends watching and an old remote so can change channel

 

Good luck x

[hali]

real foods work a treat anything like pots, root veg, pasta etc

[Inge]

we had all sorts... dressing up clothes rack was always near the home corner, and we enhanced and changed ours into more of an open plan kitchen diner with a sofa, chairs, which developed into the box tv, magazines, pens and pencils, telephone, book case and books... ... I sat in the living room/kitchen at home and looked at the sort of things we had around..

ironing board and iron, washing machine, clothes horse, blankets, covers' cushions,

dolls, baby stuff, high chair cot, not lots of each - one or two .. and that was for 20 children..

 

and yes we were pack away and all had to go into the tardis cupboard... small items went into a box for us to set up next day.. chairs and sofa were blow up ones, but then a parent gave us a light pair of child chairs...

 

need to think laterally and look at your own home and what you may find - for us it was a home not a kitchen area..

 

Ok some days it became a tent, others a reading room, others a kitchen, occasionally a bus to get there.. all depended on the children.

 

we had a wonderful week where they used the blanket as a parachute and ended up with us giving them ours to play with on thier own... no adult supervision except form a distance.. we had some wonderful obs come from that .

 

make a shop next to it to go and buy items to use in the home...

[fimbo]

have the children shown interest in anything else -maybe if they are repeating the same thing, they are ready for a change ? if you sill want the 'home corner' how about a different aspect -bedroom, living room (remove kitchen etc). or change altogether -we have had a dark den this week with torches (table with blankets over really !!)

we tend to 'theme' this area to whatever the children are showing interest in.

how about some real water , bubbles , dish mops and plastic plates so they can really wash up - we do this in our 'messy area' -they you are still following their interest in washing up -but adding a new dimension to it -extending it, this then leaves you free to try another idea in the home corner ?

[garrison]

I WAS ADVISED BY MY EYFS CONSULTANT NOT TO USE THE PLASTIC 'REAL' FOOD AND USE OTHER STUFF SUCH AS PEBBLES, BEADS, COTTON REELS, STRING ETC TO 'COOK' WITH.

tHE THEORY BEHIND IT IS THAT A FRIED EGG CAN ONLY EVER BE A FRIED EGG BUT A BOWL FULL OF PEBBLES CAN BE ANYTHING THE IMAGINATION DECIDES.

WE DO IT WITH OUR KIDS AND IT IS SO MUCH BETTER

[Glen]

they love stirring real dried pasta.

 

It makes a real mess but is easily swept up

 

Glen

[Guest terrydoo73]

Thank you for your replies. All the things you have mentioned we do have near at hand to this area. There is a cooker, sink, washing machine and larder cupboard as well as a cot with a baby in it. There is a washing line with pegs and clothes available to put in the machine or hang out. Beside the cot is a large dressing up unit with shelving that contains purses, boxes, mobile phones, and behind this our seating corner with rug, couch and side table. As it is a small area and you could have say 4 children in there we don't have the cot, high chair and buggy out all at once - just change it around as often as possible. We do have a "babies" shelf with things like the bottle, potty, feeding bowl and SMA tin of milk. Will try the pasta idea in a jar tomorrow as it might create some ideas. Keep them coming.

[Guest]

Thank you for your replies. All the things you have mentioned we do have near at hand to this area. There is a cooker, sink, washing machine and larder cupboard as well as a cot with a baby in it. There is a washing line with pegs and clothes available to put in the machine or hang out. Beside the cot is a large dressing up unit with shelving that contains purses, boxes, mobile phones, and behind this our seating corner with rug, couch and side table. As it is a small area and you could have say 4 children in there we don't have the cot, high chair and buggy out all at once - just change it around as often as possible. We do have a "babies" shelf with things like the bottle, potty, feeding bowl and SMA tin of milk. Will try the pasta idea in a jar tomorrow as it might create some ideas. Keep them coming.

 

How about some real washing up going on somewhere?

[Froglet]

How about some real washing up going on somewhere?

 

I would second this - I did this for the first time this week, don't know why I didn't think of it before. A squirt of liquid, jug of warm water a washing sponge and a tea towel and children who haven't been near the role play area are desperate to get in there.

[fimbo]

mine love washing the babies clothes too - we use a squirt of the handsoap in the water for bubbles and they peg it out on the makeshift line outside