10 Fun and Easy Dramatic Play Area Themes You'll Love
Hunter is teaching me how to ice a cupcake. I confess to him that I’ve never decorated cupcakes before.
“It’s okay.” Unfazed by my inexperience, he mindlessly wipes the back of his hand along his well-worn apron and eyes the cupcake carefully.
“Cupcakes are hot. You gotta be careful,” he warns me, and blows forcefully on the one he’s holding. He pauses, then looks up at me and plops the cupcake into my hand. “Okay, it’s good now.”
Hunter is three years old. His cupcake is bright yellow and plastic, a piece of the bakery-themed Dramatic Play station at his preschool.
Dramatic Play is an essential part of early childhood development
Through Dramatic Play, students take on new roles, try out rules, and create new ones. As they play, they develop abstract thinking, literacy, math, and social studies skills.
Traditionally, early education centers have featured “housekeeping stations” where students explored basic home-care: sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, ironing, etc. But Dramatic Play can be so much bigger than a housekeeping station!
We’re going to explore 10 creative and engaging theme ideas for Dramatic Play spaces at your preschool or daycare.
But first: a couple of tips & tricks.
KEEP IT AFFORDABLE
Make your own materials when you can.
To make the materials that the kids will use in your Dramatic Play space, collect items from around the house and your community: paper grocery bags, cardboard boxes, magazines or newspapers, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, tissue paper, gift bags, old t-shirts—all sorts of material can be repurposed for your Dramatic Play space with a little imagination and a good pair of scissors!
Scour yard sales, thrift stores, craft stores, Craigslist, Freecycle, and Facebook Marketplace.
One small object on a rummage sale table might inspire a whole landscape of Dramatic Play. Make a habit of checking out local sales and keep your imagination open whenever you’re out and about. Parents and teachers are constantly rotating through toys and other materials, and you’ll be able to score some cheap and creative items through resale outlets like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.
Some thrift stores and craft stores have annual or semi-annual “bag sales”—fill a whole grocery bag for $5 or $10! Call around to find out if stores in your area offer a bag sale, and mark your calendar so you don’t miss them when they come around.
Reuse materials from theme to theme.
So many of the materials listed below can be used for multiple themes! Think about what you have already and how you can repurpose it into a different scenario.
CHANGE IT UP
Throughout the year, Dramatic Play stations should be available both indoors and outdoors, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Try to keep at least one indoor theme and one outdoor theme going at all times. Some schools choose to rotate their Dramatic Play areas by season and others by month.
SAVE SPACE
Some pieces can be used throughout multiple themes. Make the best use of your space by incorporating large pieces into various themes throughout the year. Check out a handful of ways that Erica Lagrou Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center in Fremont, OH, uses one large piece to build an auto shop, a movie theatre concession stand, a pet store cashier station, a post office, and a pumpkin patch check-out counter.
SAFETY FIRST
Materials should be nontoxic and lead-free. If you’re working with students under three years old, pay especially close attention to the items that you provide. As you know, small objects can become choking hazards for little ones who like to “explore the world” with their mouths! Keep in mind all safety guidelines listed on kidshealth.org.
10 creative theme ideas for Dramatic Play spaces at your preschool or daycare
#1 ROBOTICS AND ENGINEERING
Table and chairs
“Tablets” and “Laptops” (you can make these from cardboard!)
Recycled objects:
Caps and seals from food containers
Toilet paper and paper towel rolls
Bubble wrap
Empty sewing thread
Thick twist-ties (the kind that wrap electronics)
Yarn and ribbon
Other assorted recycled pieces from your home or community
Colored tape to put the pieces together
#2 RESTAURANT
Table & chairs
Table cloth
Menus
Salt and pepper, other seasonings
Cloth placemats
Dishes, cups, utensils
Cloth napkins
Food prep/kitchen area
Change it up: make it a bakery, a pizzeria, a taqueria, a Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, or other ethnic restaurant (if the specialty is outside of your own culture, find a restaurant owner in your area who will come talk to the students about their food and culture on the day that the new space is first set up)
(photo by Erica Lagrou Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center in Fremont, OH)
#3 PARTY TIME
Table and chairs
Table cloths of various colors
Party hats, bowties, suspenders, boas, gloves, necklaces, or other “fancy” accessories
Assorted shoeboxes with the lids and bottoms covered (separately) with wrapping paper and bows
Decorations (birthday, New Years, “congratulations,” etc.)
Greeting cards for various occasions (find these at thrift stores!)
#4 BEACH
Sand pit, if using as an outdoor play space
Shovels and buckets
Towels
Large umbrella
Sun hat
Beach balls
Mini football or mini frisbee
Empty bottles labeled “sunscreen”
Empty spray bottle (for “cooling off”)
#5 AUTO SHOP
Large t-shirts or blue, grey, or brown button-downs colored with black “grease”
“Fluid” bottles filled with oil & colored water (glue down the caps!)
A “services” sign that helps students understand the parts of a car that might be having trouble
A counter with money or a cash register/card reader
Tools and “parts” to use in the repair
Scooters, toy cars, or other wheeled items that kids can bring to their “mechanic”
Jars of “paint”—because everyone needs a touch-up or even a fresh color now and then!
(photos by Erica Lagrou Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center in Fremont, OH)
#6 CAMPING
Backpacks with:
Plastic “tins” of beans, etc
A small pot or frying pan
A flashlight
A blanket
A compass (you can make this out of cardboard!)
Sticks and small logs for building a campfire
Red, yellow, and orange plastic flags for flames
Marshmallows or hot dogs on sticks (you can use dowels and felt to create these)
Fold-up camping chairs
A lantern
#7 VETERINARIAN
Stuffed animals
Lab coats
Doctor’s kits (complete kits available from Fisher-Price, Melissa & Doug, or PotteryBarn Kids, or you can mix-match your own!)
A pet carrier or two (these are a great garage sale find—just make sure to clean them thoroughly!)
Ace bandages
Small pet recovery cones
Small, soft brushes
#8 FIRE STATION
Fire hats
Red “coats” (thrifted blazers, button-ups, or traditional firefighter costumes)
Empty spray bottles labeled “fire extinguishers”
A table and chair for a 911 operator with:
A telephone
A laptop
A “fire truck” (this can be anything with wheels, but the one pictured can be found on Amazon)
Red, yellow, and orange fabric, plastic flags, or other materials for flames (attach them to a playhouse, a dollhouse, or anywhere that makes sense in your space!)
(photos by Erica Lagrou Payne of Erica's Educare Learning Center in Fremont, OH)
#9 SCIENCE LAB
Table and chairs
Cardboard or pre-fab “Tablets” and “Laptops”
Lab coats and safety goggles
Magnifying Glass
Test tubes and beakers
Bottles filled with oil & colored water (glue down the caps!)
#10 PICNIC
Blanket
Basket
Wooden or plastic food
Empty boxes and cartons from home: cracker boxes, small plastic juice bottles, small plastic jam containers
Wooden or plastic plates, utensils, cups
Cloth napkins
Ants!
Sun hats
Sun umbrella
Have fun with Dramatic Play
Dramatic Play spaces can be a place for your students to let loose and play freely. Make sure that they’re fun for you, too!
Let your environment inspire you. What do you do throughout your week that your kids could explore in a play setting? Then collect items throughout the year, rather than stressing about finding the perfect thing at the last-minute.
If you’re not having fun recreating a theme in your classroom, it’s okay to hang it up for a while and choose a different one. The more fun you have creating your play spaces, the more positive your engagement with the kids in those spaces will be.
Plan your themes
You can use this worksheet to plan your next Dramatic Play area themes.
Make a list of three dramatic play space themes you’d like to develop in the coming year
Brainstorm all items that you already have in your classroom or in storage that could be used for each of those themes
Write down all items you’d like to create for each theme
List all items you’d like to buy or have donated for each theme
Take a photo of your list so that you have it with you at all times. When you find yourself at a thrift store, garage sale, craft store, or anywhere else, you can pull it out to remind yourself of the supplies you want to find for your next Dramatic Play space themes.