Step into the whimsical world of imaginative play with these Spring Dramatic Play ideas! Children are invited to let their creativity blossom as they immerse themselves in the delightful role-playing experience of tending to a bustling strawberry patch. With baskets brimming with plump, imaginary berries, and rustic gardening tools at their fingertips, every harvest is ripe with endless possibilities!
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Spring Lesson Plans
Strawberry Patch Set-up
Spring Dramatic Play Ideas
Have you ever eaten freshly picked strawberries? It’s like a sweet burst of heaven in your mouth.
I don’t mean to bad-mouth store-bought strawberries, but I’ve been getting some newly bought strawberries riddled with mold and squishy spots. They obviously don’t compare to fresh strawberries.
And nothing can compare to how much fun your toddlers will have at the strawberry patch dramatic play.
But first, you gotta get set up.
Start with your backdrops (clouds and strawberries or blue and red butcher paper). Then, add some dirt (aka a brown sheet you saved from the early 2000s when brown was all the rage or brown butcher paper) for your strawberry vines to sit upon with strawberry counters on top.
Then, you’ll need some shelving to organize your supplies for the customers, farmers, and the show-stopping snack shop.
Materials:
Strawberry Snack Shop
Strawberry Patch Dramatic Play
How heart-fluttering cute are these strawberry snacks?
It’s the labels, I swear. Because the jam is just red pompoms in a jar. The lemonade is simply plastic lemons (Dollar Tree ice cubes) and strawberries. The chocolate strawberries are just printouts. And the cake—well, we did bring out the plastic cake for cutting up some slices to dish out.
So all you need are some cute little labels on jars and plastic cups to really make your strawberry snacks pop!
Materials:
- Strawberry Patch Dramatic Play printables
- plastic jars (Dollar Tree)
- red pompoms
- lemon ice cubes
- strawberry counters
- clear plastic cups (I used old play dough cups)
- metal tray (Dollar Tree)
- pretend cake
- pitcher
Strawberry Farmers
Spring Dramatic Play Ideas
I don’t lie. It doesn’t feel good, plus I’m terrible at it. But I had to lie to one of my students when the cactus she bought me died. A cactus, people! I told her I loved it so much I had to bring it home. Shame.
But no more dead plants for me. The curse of the black thumb is gone! I have kept six, I repeat, six plants alive for a year now.
And so I can confidently take on the role of the farmer at the pretend strawberry patch. Yup, I love watering my plants, seeing them grow, and especially eating the fruits of my labor (when involved).
And your students will, too. Hopefully, with some early practice caring for plants in this spring dramatic play center, the curse of the black thumb will never be bestowed upon them.
Materials:
- Farmer Checklist printable
- gloves (Dollar Tree)
- gardening tools
- watering can
- lanyards for name tags
Strawberry Patch customers
Pretend Play
You’re not supposed to have favorite students, right? Let’s be real; there are clear favorites. We just don’t say it aloud.
I had a clear favorite when creating the role of the customer in the dramatic play center. It was way more fun to imagine than the farmer (sorry, bro).
Come on, not only do the customers get to put on a hat and pretend sunscreen, but they also get to do the actual strawberry picking, order the snacks, and pay with an endless supply of money that they didn’t have to earn.
The customer journey was my favorite to create; therefore, I thought it would be the role that my kiddos would fight over. However, I was dead wrong. Keep reading to find out which role was their favorite.
Materials:
- Strawberry Patch Customer Checklist
- basket
- hats
- bottle for pretend sunscreen
- scale
Strawberry Patch Dramatic Play
Cashiers
This week, the cashier position was coveted, so lucky me, I became the sole customer who took on many different bad accents.
How many different combinations of snacks can I buy? Strawberry cake with lemonade, chocolate strawberries with cake, or jam with lemonade. Mathematically, I got all the combos. Trust me, it wasn’t just my creativity running out from all of those fake accents.
Kids love being the cashier, partly because they get to whip up strawberry snacks but mostly because of the cash register. So if you have one, I highly recommend bringing it out. Cha-ching! That’s what made this role number one this week.
Materials:
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Dramatic play is a beloved cornerstone of learning, and I hope you get some spring dramatic play ideas to make your Strawberry Patch an absolute hit! Children dove into a world of vibrant role-play, transforming into farmers, customers, and enchanting storytellers. Every day at this center is a thrilling journey into the heart of the strawberry fields!
