Children love to play in pretend shops, which can provide the basis for a topic and also form part of other topics such as 'food' or 'people who help us' or 'clothes'.
Shopping activities quickly capture children's imaginations and provide a wide range of learning opportunities across all areas of the early years curriculum through child-initiated play.
Basic resources for a shop, such as a till, money, bags, purses and scales, can be stored in a labelled storage box and set up quickly and easily in response to a child's current interest.
Alternatively, practitioners can set up shops that have a wider range of resources and can remain in use for a longer period in a particular area in the setting.
Adult-led activity
Just looking
Organise visits to some local shops to develop the children's awareness of the roles that they can engage in and help them understand these roles and so encourage more purposeful, thoughtful play.
Key learning intentions
To observe, find out about and identify features in the place they live To notice differences between features of the local environment Adult:child ratio 1:2 (arrange for parents and carers to join you for the visit)
Resources
Camera clipboards and writing materials shopping bags and baskets shopping trolleys money
Preparation
* In advance, visit the shops that you plan to take the children to.
Explain to the shopkeeper why and when you want to visit. Most shopkeepers will be happy to talk with the children and answer their questions. Some will even provide pictures, examples of notices and posters, paper bags and possibly even free items for the children to take back to the setting.
* Talk to the children about their trips to shops and what they saw and bought there. Look at books about shops. Talk about local shops and what they might sell. Explain precisely each step of the visit that you are planning to undertake.
* Ensure helpers are aware of the plan for the visit, any health and safety issues and which children they will be supporting during the visit.
Activity content
* On your way to the shop, share information about the directions you are taking, the street names and items of interest on the way such as signs, houses and traffic.
* Take photographs of different stages of the journey to label with the children and use in a book or display for future reference.
* In the shop, discuss the different areas of interest such as the way goods are displayed, labels, notices and posters, where the till is, whether purchases are put into bags or wrapped in other ways.
* If possible, let the children buy something in the shop to take back to the setting.
* Encourage the children to ask the shopkeeper about their job and running the shop. Ask about opening and closing times.
* On returning from the visit, ensure materials from the 'shopping' storage box are immediately available for the children to explore the materials and re-create their experiences in imaginative play activities.
* Provide paints, felt-tip pens and paper for the children to capture their experiences through painting and drawing.
* Make a map or 3D model of the route you took from the setting to the shop. Include road names and add models of any significant buildings or objects, such as traffic lights and zebra crossings. Label all the items.
* Use the materials bought at the shop. For example, share out the buns or fruit, or use the vegetables to make vegetable soup. Investigate the pictures and writing on any containers.
Key vocabulary
Shop, shopkeeper, buy, sell, cost, price, spend, purchase, money, change, till, shelves, open, closed, walk, street, road, journey
Child-initiated learning
Encourage the children to develop their own ideas and interests across the curriculum by adding topic resources to the basic provision.
Imaginative play areas
Basic equipment
*For a shop Till, play or real money and purses; shopping bags, baskets and trolley; writing materials to make price labels, notices, posters, open/closed signs, the name of the shop and stock-keeping details; scales; wrapping paper, Sellotape, string and scissors; telephone; calculator *Printed materials Books for the children to browse through; pictures and posters to enhance the area and encourage children to create their own examples
*Clothes Tabards and/or hats to indicate who is shopkeeper and customer.
Naturally everyone will want to be the shopkeeper when the shop first 'opens'.
Additional resources
Add appropriate materials for different types of shops, for example:
*Shoe shop Shoes, sandals, slippers and boots of various sizes, tape measure, shoe boxes (Encourage the children to measure each other's feet and sort the shoes into pairs or order them by size.)
*Fruit and veg shop Plastic fruit and vegetables sorted into trays; scales; large paper bags; shopping baskets or trolleys (Encourage the children to weigh or count the fruit and vegetables.)
*Book shop Variety of books, comics, newspapers and magazines. (Encourage the children to browse through the materials and describe what they like/dislike about items before making a purchase.)
*Pet shop Soft toy animals; cardboard boxes; empty packets of animal feed; junk materials to use as water and feed dishes; labels on elastic to price individual animals
*Hat shop Range of hats including sun hats, woolly hats, caps, rain hats, dress hats and helmets; large mirrors
*Clothes shop Clothes of various types and sizes; clothes rail; tape measures; size charts; catalogues available for the children to look through or to cut out pictures to make poster displays for the shop
*Baker's shop A variety of salt-dough cakes, bread and rolls (which will need to be dried thoroughly in a warm oven, painted and glazed with glue); tongs; paper bags. Discuss why children need to wash their hands before handling food items.
*Flower shop Bunches of plastic flowers and plants in pots (or make simple flowers from straws and tissue paper and simple plants by sticking artificial flowers and leaves in pots with oasis in them); watering cans and seed packets
*Toy shop Toys of different shapes and sizes including boxed games, small-world items and soft animals; wrapping paper, string, Sellotape and scissors; labels and pens. Share Just Like Jasper! by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books, 4.99) to inspire the children's ideas.)
*Grocer's shop Empty food boxes with the tops sealed; real tins of food to encourage the children to explore weight (or play tins and packets)
*Outdoor market stall Table, canopy, food, clothes, shoes, flowers and plants
*Car boot sale stall Range of materials for children to buy and sell, including some larger items; trolleys, boxes and large bags.
Possible learning experiences
* Sorting and ordering materials by size, shape, colour, material.
* Measuring using tape measures and scales and comparing lengths and weights.
* Counting using play materials and money using number names.
* Engaging in activities that require hand-eye co-ordination, such as weighing items, exchanging money, wrapping purchases.
* Exploring roles and characters.
* Using language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences.
* Using writing as a means of recording and communicating and attempting to write for different purposes, such as price lists, notices, signs and labels.
* Working as part of a group, taking turns and sharing.
* Displaying high levels of involvement in activities.
* Engaging in imaginative and role play based on first-hand experiences.
The practitioner role
* Engage in activities alongside children becoming involved in role-play and imaginative play as appropriate.
* Encourage the children to take turns to play the role of shopkeeper and customer.
* Encourage children to discuss how they can organise taking turns at playing different roles and how they can share the materials and equipment available fairly.
* Model and extend language and vocabulary.
* Support children's understanding of mathematical concepts such as time, money and weight.
* Provide books, posters and other materials to engage children's interest in the activities.
* Support children's ideas and encourage them to take ownership of the imaginative play activities.
* Ensure writing materials are available to motivate children to record information.
Sand tray
Additional resources
*Dry sand *paper bags of different shapes and sizes *shopping bags *baskets *purses *empty junk food boxes and containers *small-world items *small wooden or plastic bricks *spades and scoops of various sizes
Possible learning experiences
* Filling containers to explore comparative weights and capacity.
* Filling paper bags with sand to experience heavy weights.
* Estimating and counting the number of scoops or items it takes to fill a container.
The practitioner role
* Engage in activities and experiment with the materials alongside them.
* Provide assistance by holding the containers that the children are filling.
* Model appropriate counting one to one.
* Introduce vocabulary of heavy and light, full and empty and other appropriate comparative language.
* Encourage children to predict how many scoops or items they will need to fill a container.
Music area
Additional resources
*Empty junk boxes of all shapes and sizes *rice *dried peas *pasta *Sellotape
Possible learning experiences
* Exploring the sounds made by putting different dried food in junk containers.
* Varying the amount of dried food used to see if the sound changes.
* Decorating the containers using materials from the creative area.
* Adding the musical instruments made to the music resources.
The practitioner role
* Experiment alongside the children to explore the materials.
* Provide support for children to try using different types and amounts of materials.
* Providing technical assistance when sealing containers.
* Ensure there are enough suitable resources and equipment available to allow children to make independent choices.
* Allow children sufficient time and materials to explore and research their own ideas.
Resources
Books
* Just like Jasper! by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books, 4.99)
* Don't forget the bacon by Pat Hutchins (Red Fox, 4.99)
* The shopping basket by John Burningham (Red Fox, 5.99)
* Going shopping by Pippa Goodhart (Franklin Watts, 3.99)
* Shopping (Kingfisher, 2.99) Games
* Shopping list (5.75) and Pop to the shops (7.25) from Orchard Toys (tel: 0115 937 3547, fax: 0115 937 6575)