There aren't many things kids love like they love pizza, so a Pizza Parlor dramatic play area is an obvious HOME RUN! My class would probably be content if I just left this center up all year. They loved it so much! I love that I really didn't need to buy anything extra or create any elaborate props to make this center amazing. Let me show you around!
This is the register area where customers can walk up and order what kind of food they want. The front of this stand is a magnetic whiteboard, so all these cards have magnet dots on them. The chef or server can pull off a card if they run out of any toppings and can flip the "open" sign to "closed" when they are ready to close up shop. Of course the phone is essential for anyone calling in to make an order. The phone and cash register are always popular props and integrate math and number recognition effortlessly!
On the back of this stand, I have all kinds of supplies! The cook books are ones I use with my house dramatic play set up, but I left them out for a little chef inspiration!
On this stand I also have our menus and order forms stored. The server marks how many slices of pizza the customer wants as well as what toppings then writes down a number for how many pieces of bread, plates of salad, and drinks the customer orders. Obviously you could not ask for more engaging counting and number writing practice than this!
We make our own pizza cook book with this class book template! Each child designs a page writing his or her name, decorating a pizza with crayons, paint, construction paper, or stamps, and writes down how many of each topping are required for his or her recipe. Authentic writing activities like this are my favorite because kids feel a strong purpose in their writing knowing their friends will read this and will play with it.
For costumes, I set out these roll necklaces along with a chef outfit and apron I got in this dress up pack. The roll necklaces are really helpful for kids to differentiate who they are pretending to be and to promote the use of occupational vocabulary.
I got this idea for a fountain drink machine from Play to Learn Preschool. My kids loved it! I just hot glued strips of tissue paper into each cup and hot glued them to the top of my kitchen set. Plastic drink pitchers would also work great for this!
I have this sweet Melissa and Doug wooden pizza set that I just love! My fancy rolls are just hamburger buns from my bin of random plastic food, but my class never questioned their authenticity. My even fancier salad is torn up construction paper with plastic vegetables thrown in. I got this idea from Pocket of Preschool who is so great about making her own props and involving her students in creating them. I kid you not, the salad was my students' FAVORITE food to play with! I just borrowed this salad bowl and a set of cheap plastic tongs from our building's kitchen, gave my daughter some paper to tear up, and put it in our fridge. Never underestimate your student's ability to imagine and play. They are HAPPY to pretend with you even if you don't have all the expensive props.
If you would like to use the printables I used, you can get them here.
If you are looking for more dramatic play ideas or other engaging activities for your class, try these! Just click the picture to see more!
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