pretend play homemade GROCERY store
This post originally appeared May 16, 2011.
One of my favorite Mommy projects is the pretend play area.  Last week we had a fun cafe, the week before that a stage area complete with keyboard and tambourines.  I’ve been hesitant to post these set ups because they don’t photo well.  This week we are having fun with a grocery lesson plan, so of course I set up a grocery store.  I hope the pictures are good enough to inspire a shopping corner in your little area of the world.
I collected boxes and other containers. (In all honesty, I’m always collecting boxes.  This was just in time to clean out my overly clutter art cabinet!)
I set up our cash register
, leaving a little space on the table top for a conveyor belt.
I had the hardest time finding play money. Â I don’t know why, I’ll probably come across it at every store from here on out! Â I found some old fake change (because I have bought play money in the past!) and I cut rectangle pieces of paper to represent dollars. Â We will probably get more creative with it throughout the week.
I added coupons, old name tags, purses, wallets and reusable grocery bags.
I don’t have want a kid shopping cart. Â They are big, and I don’t really care for one purpose BIG toys. Â So instead I gathered up a few baskets and boxes for the kids to fill with items they wish to purchase.
Of course our store is pet friendly.
So, are the photos good enough? Â If they work you’ll see a lot more posts like this one!
This post is a part of  the GROCERY lesson plan.
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I have small home based pre-school and the children all love to play grocery. They like the idea of money but some of them still put things in their mouths – so I use large poker chips instead of pretend money. They are big and round and the kids use them as pretend money. I also have some coloured counting chips from Oriental Trading – and they use the different colours to represent different money amounts. (The counting chips came in a pack of 600 – so I use them for many different games…)
Poker chips are a fantastic idea! What a great way to let the little ones experience money without the fear of choking. Thanks.
I always loved setting up a store in my classroom. Something to consider adding – a way to make a shopping list. I bought mini clipboards, cut paper to fit, and attached a pencil or crayon on a string. Kids loved writing their lists before shopping.
I love the idea of adding a clipboard and list making tools! Fantastic way to encourage writing!
Playing ‘shop’ is probably one of my fondest memories!
I think you may have started something around here. The cash register is one purchase that I am very glad I made.
Isn’t is wonderful!?!?!? And it can be used for so many different pretend play areas!
We love playing grocery store, especially on shopping days when the goodies are still in the bags.. They are going to be thrilled with this suggestion! . .as long as the little ones are past putting everything in their mouth. Ohhh, it’s too bad the frozen ones would melt.
Yeah!!! (You could stuff old boxes or bags from the freezer! They wouldn’t be cold but the idea would be the same)
The grocery store is a fabulous idea. There is a website where you can print off money from different countries — but you can put a photo of your choosing in the middle of it. (site below) I have a friend that put her husband’s face on a dollar bill and called it “Daddy Bucks”. She used them for a rewards to cash in for “Daddy Time”. Or you could make money with each member of the family’s picture — for our family it would be “Kimbrell Cash”. This might be a fun addition to a grocery store and you could learn about currency from other countries if you have older kids.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/420678/PLAY-MONEY-PERSONALIZED-TEMPLATES
I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you for sharing!