Towards the end of the year it's important to switch things up for students. They have played with the same manipulatives all year and things are getting repetitive. I figured it was the perfect time to revamp our dramatic play area since I could tell my students were ready for something new. I decided it was time to take a camping trip! Be sure to download the Free Camping Center Printables here!
I knew my kids would be fascinated with a camping themed dramatic play center. We took a regular card table and put the Camping Play Table Tent over it to turn our classroom into a campground! Every campground needs a camper and a fire pit. We used two kids' camping chars and an Inflatable Campfire to create our fire pit area. I knew we also needed Fishing Vests and Fishing Poles so our little outdoor explorers could stay active.
We also added the Enchanted Forest Backdrop and a spare Christmas tree, to make our dramatic play area look like it was set in the woods. In our Camping Play Table Tent we also included some twinkle lights so the kids can lay down and pretend that they are looking up at the stars.
Since we did this dramatic play center in the spring, it coincided perfectly with our insect unit! We loved the Learning Insect Magnetic Activity Set. I put up a giant oil drip pan and put the activity cards out. Then, I let the kids play with all the different cards and magnets. They could sort if the insect had wings or no wings. They could also illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly. My Pre-K kids easily used this activity and there were cards that could be used up to first grade!
We also had a bulletin board up that was all about insects! Download the Free Printables here. We sang a song "Head, Thorax, Abdomen" set to the tune of, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." My kids ended up singing it day after day! They loved pointing out all the different parts on an insect on the bulletin board!
What four-year-old doesn't like looking at bugs? I got See Through Bug Jars and put one Small Bug in each. I like these jars because on the top they have a magnifying glass connected right to the jar! By the end of our bug unit my students could tell me which insects had wings and identify the head, thorax, abdomen, and legs of each bug.
In my sensory bin I added the Melissa & Doug® Catch and Count Fish Game to the "pond" by our campsite. The kids loved fishing. If they couldn't catch the fish with the fishing pole, they just stuck their hands in or used the Bug Nets.
Once they caught the fish, they would sort them by color, number, and then put the fish in numerical order. The kids loved this dramatic play center! The best part was that they didn't even realize they were learning while they were playing!
