Website Archive - February, 2007
Spotlight on Creative Expressions/Dramatic Play
Children
Here are some websites with activities for children to enjoy online.
Poisson Rouge (French for Red Fish) website has many online games and activities for young children. There are no words but children will enjoy exploring all the great activities by simply clicking on different parts of the start-up page to go to all of the activities. You can explore ABCs, numbers, painting area, musical bees with colors and kaleidoscope features, navigating among fish in the sea, music boxes, and the list goes on and on. Just keep clicking to find more and more activities.
The Fisher-Price Online Games & Activites have some nice games and lots of coloring pages on this site. Try the Little People games on both the toddler and preschool pages.
Parents
Here are some tips and activities for developing your child’s creative expression through dramatic play.
PBS TeacherSource, Arts and Literature, PreK – Drama/Dramatics, has many activities based on TV characters that you can do with your child.
Scholastic has an Expert Advice section for parents. The article The Importance of Pretend Play by Ellen Booth Church discusses how pretend play develops social/emotional skills, language skills and thinking skills. It also lists ideas to create a prop box at home.
Teachers
There are so many websites offering resources on creative expresssion and dramatic play, and we’ve highlighted just a few. So check them out!
Hummingbird Educational Resources: A Resource Site for Early Childhood – Kindergarten Educators has lesson plans on many themes, including ideas for prop boxes for a drama center. There are many dramatic play props listed that include ideas for an astronaut, a pirate, chef, veterinarian, magician, and a repair shop, as well as ideas for the usual drama centers,- grocery store, barber shop,hospital, and flower shop.
The Project Approach website has lots of projects listed in the Project Examples / Pre-Kindergarten – Kindergarten section that use creative expression. Check them out, but especially the Lunch Project and the Hairy Head Project.
PBS Kids has dramatic play activities to develop problem-solving and creative expression skills based on Jakers! Confusing or difficult situations that children ages 5 - 8 may encounter at home or in school are presented for role playing.
Children love to imitate super heroes and good vs. evil. Before excluding this play, you might want to read an article on the National Network for Child Care (NNCC) website by Kathy Reschke called POWER PLAY: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Teacher Quick Source offers dramatic play activities as part of its Head Start Activity QuickSource®. Choose Animal Parade, Safety Worker Dress Up, I’ll Huff and Puff or My Face Can Say.
Handouts from the 2006 NAEYC Conference are posted on the NAEYC website. Among them is a presentation by Nicki Collins Geigert on 2006 Dramatic Play and Creative Movement Activities for Little People (Word document). It explains the benefits of dramatic play and creative movement activities and highlights stories and music that can be used. It also lists several games and animal walk movement activities.
[Posted on February 5, 2007]
