Dramatic play (a.k.a. “make believe”) is an excellent way to encourage language development and pre-reading exposure in your child. And it's just darn fun! Period. We’ve done it all – Restaurant, Family, “Chores” (my Little Miss affectionately calls herself the “Queen of the Chores”), Beauty Shop, Car Wash…The one we haven’t done (until now)?
Home Office.
In this ever increasing age of technology, children are watching their parents on the computer more and more with a desire to emulate mommy and daddy. So, naturally, the time came when my children wanted “an office of their own”. My son’s preschool classroom has a faux keyboard and telephone and I knew they would love one at home!
You can make a “home office” for your child with a few simple items found around the house! We had such fun putting this together! We even made our own chalkboard (piece of plywood + chalkboard spray paint).
Here’s what we included:
-Old Computer Keyboard
-Old phone
-Pens, Paper, Post-its, Clipboard
-Chalkboard, chalk
A few “extras” I included:
- "Computer Screen" (printed image from a Google search)
- Blank printable calendar
-Relatives phone numbers (great for learning the real thing!-ours have been changed for the photo)
-My old business cards
How I made this idea work for me:
-Pen holder is a recycled peanut butter jar
- “Desk” is a large Rubbermaid plastic storage bin cover with a tablecloth
-We didn’t have an extra keyboard lying around, but I was able to find one for next to nothing at the local thrift store.
Have you played “make believe” lately?
Cute idea! My boys would love something like this!
ReplyDeletewas just thinking about this today! my son is fascinated by my husband's id that he wears around his neck. i have an idea for making the id part, but i can't find the chain anywhere. any ideas?
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DeleteWhat a cute office! :)
ReplyDeleteI wish we had a big playroom for the kids so I could leave centers like this set up. Our house is too small, so I keep play sets in separate bags and bins in the basement and bring them out at different times, using the kids' table in the living room as a play center for a few days at a time.
This is great! And to think I just threw out an old wall phone yesterday. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute idea!
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative. I've thought and thought how to make an office for the kids and couldnt come up with anything fun. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! So cute! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy boys would live this! I will have to work on this an set it up! Love the idea of the desk being a plastic tote!
ReplyDeletebloody great idea, I'm going to do that for my daughter. Any tips on stopping younger brothers ruining it? Razor wire?
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, my kiddos would love it too!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCute! We already have a keyboard and play phone out for the girls to play with, but they would love a little office all set up for a while. I'll have to do this!
ReplyDeletewhat a great idea!!!! maybe this would get my kiddos off of my laptop!
ReplyDeleteOMG! I LOVE this idea! My son would totally love it too... even though he's kind of young. He already loves pretending to talk on the phone... we have an extra one that he plays with. He always wants to type on my keyboard if I'm on the computer, so we gave him one of our old keyboards to play with. I love the idea of making these into a mock-office, like mine! So cute! :)
ReplyDeleteI would have LOVED this as a kid! I used to "sneak" paper credit card application pamphlets in stores and bring them home to play office with -- called them 'fill-out sheets.' LOL. My kids would love this -- thanks for the idea! I may link it this Monday.
ReplyDeleteWow... i also wish my house was bigger(altho we are moving next year) so i could set something like this up.. but I think if you came to my current apartment you would find a suitable place because you are So creative!! i REALLY love this...
ReplyDeletewe've been doing some pretend play as well.. I'll post an activity we've been doing soon.. thanks so much michelle. I cant wait to see your other make believe ideas!
Finnegan would LOVE this! I'm going to have to give it a try. A friend of ours gave us an old keyboard and he loves to pretend on that, if I did all the extras he'd be in 7th heaven!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by my blog. It's great to meet another Michelle!
What a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a CUTE idea!! I would have loved this when I was little.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
ReplyDeleteReally great idea! If I had more space in my house I would so set somthing up like that! I am sure my daughter would love to "pretend" type all day after all she takes after her mother :)
ReplyDeleteThis is really neat, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteI hope I can find the time to make one for Joe.
Thanks for another super idea!
This is such a cute idea!! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely amazing!!!!!! A dream come true for any child. :):)
ReplyDeleteI just so happen to have an old keyboard and my son has been playing with it, but I like the idea of having it all set up like a real office. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeletelove this but dont have any desks
ReplyDeleteThe DIY computer is brilliant:) Office play is also great because it allows mommy and daddy to get some work done (as kids love to imitate adults). I made a less formal play office using things I had around the house and it allowed me to work for a whole 20 minutes or so:) http://hintmama.com/2014/03/18/todays-hint-create-a-toddler-office/
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Hint Mama!
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