CREATIVE DRAMA CENTER

Play kitchen basics: Child sized toy range-refrigerator-cupboard-sink (which can be made from sturdy cardboard boxes in a pinch), tableware, table and chairs, telephone, dolls and cribs, highchair, child sized rocker, mirror, appliances with cords removed, clothesbasket, adult or older child dress-up clothes, purses, briefcases, jewelry, belts, and shoes,......

Attaching recipe cards to the wall above the small range/sink adds a nice touch.

Provide a rack with hangers for the dress-up clothes rather than throwing them all in the clothesbasket.  Children learn responsibility and have to work muscles in hanging clothes on hangers.

If you (like me) aren't any good with needle and thread, you might ask for volunteers to hem the adult dress-up clothes just enough so that children aren't tripping when they walk.

Alternative: Remove all the play kitchen items on some days and provide puppets and other props relating to storybooks for children to act out.
 

Suggested items: Unit blocks (wood), toy transportation items: cars, trains, trucks, planes, boats; community mat (can buy at Wal-Mart), ropes (for pulling things), tunnels, toy people and animals, transportation/traffic signs, ramps,......

You can get great sturdy large cardboard tubes (to use as tunnels) from the trash of a local photographer (ask first, of course).

I like tracing around the blocks then taping the paper shapes to the shelves so that when children put blocks away, they can place them atop the appropriate shapes -- rather than just piling the blocks into the shelves.

My Block Center rule: We can build/stack the blocks only as high as we are, whether we're standing or sitting.
 

Suggested items: Typewriter, magnetic letters (children can post them on metal trays), lots of children's books, letter games, large round black pencils as well as skinny ones, paper, letter puzzles, chalk and chalkboard, Beginning Readers, tactile letters,......

Matching Letters: Next time you buy a pizza, ask the owner for a large round pizza cardboard.  Print letters around the edge of it and print corresponding letters on the ends of spring-snap clothespins.  Children clip the clothespins to their matching letters on the cardboard.

Tell a story: I like putting out an assortment of felt shapes with a flannelboard  in the Language Center for children to make up their own stories.  Also, when introducing this activity, invite the children to come tell you their story once they've created it so you can print their words on paper for taking home.  Sometimes, they extend the story by drawing pictures on the paper.  The flannelboard can be as simple as placing a rectangular piece of felt on a tray -- this makes it very individual.  Flannel pieces can include: tree, house, bird, human figures, animals, flower shapes, sun, moon, star,......

Sequencing Books: Sequencing is a very important language skill.  Some of the best sequencing activities I've used are ones I've made.  Here's how: Buy children's storybooks from thrift stores -- stories that are familiar to children.  Tear out the pages or cut out pictures from the pages that depict what is happening.  Laminate these, mix them, and place them in your Language Center.  Children can reassemble the "picture cards" in the order that the story takes place.

"Feely," Textured, or Tactile Letters: Print letters on large index cards then glue macrame rope or yarn over the outlines.  Or cut the letters from a textured fabric and glue them to the index cards.  (Where's the best place to get macrame rope, yarn, and fabric?  Thrift Stores, of course.)

I have worked in schools where the Language Center was also the Quiet Corner or Listening Center.  In any case, I personally like having some kind of "quiet" place for the children:

When I worked at Temple Israel Preschool, Columbus, Ohio, we had an old fashioned bathtub full of huge soft pillows where children could lounge with a book or audio tape and headphones.

The Quiet Corner is also a great place to keep a Viewmaster and reels.

Actually, you can create a Quiet Corner from a large sturdy cardboard carton or appliance box.  Cut out a door and window and throw in a mat and some pillows.  Or, you can even drape a table with a blanket or sheet to create a private place.
 
A rocker is nice in the Quiet Corner too.

I was taught not to place the Quiet Corner next to a noisy learning center (like Blocks).
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Reminder from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards."  Click here to check them out.