My preschool classroom has a “Dramatic Play” corner where children can use their imaginations to pretend they are playing or working in different jobs, homes or scenarios. While our class was learning about the Five Senses I thought it would be fun to put together an Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center. It only took a few minutes on Pinterest to find some really cool ideas and printable materials. I found a great printable set fromPlay to Learn Preschool on Teachers Pay Teachers that led to an awesome Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center. I purchased a few items from Amazon and the Dollar Tree and then my co-teacher put it all together to make a fabulous Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center that the kids enjoyed for several weeks.
I want our Dramatic Play area of the classroom to engage the children and encourage them to use their imaginations, so I am always looking for fun ideas like the Ice Cream Parlor. At the same time though I want them to be learning, so with the help of the printable Ice Cream Parlor Set and blog post from Play to Learn the children were learning and having fun in a print rich environment. They were also learning math skills with the play money and cash register. The Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center is not just for a preschool classroom. It is so easy to put together that you could create an ice cream parlor in your own home to entertain your children!
My students really loved the Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center, and it lasted longer than most dramatic play themes do in our classroom. At the end of our lessons on the five senses we celebrated with an actual Ice Cream party in the classroom to reinforce what they learned about the five senses. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
Ice Cream Parlor Dramatic Play Center:
More COOL Ice Cream Ideas for Learning in the Preschool Classroom:
Here’s a few COOL learning activities I found online that I plan to implement next year when we have our Ice Cream Parlor:
Ice Cream Scoop Name Game (FREEBIE PRINTABLE!)
Ice Cream Sundae Math Challenge (grade school)
Simple Ice Cream Counting Activity
Data Collection Activity – Ice Cream Flavors
Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We all Scream for Ice Cream – Math Worksheet Bundle (PreK/Kind)
Build a Sundae Center Activities
