Dramatic Play Center: Mini Super Market For Preschoolers

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

Hi, Good Morning! May I help you?... Yes, I need one apple, two bananas, and one orange. How much is it? ...Mmm, your total is $ 4.00. Cash or credit card? Cash. Ok, Thank you! You're welcome! Have a nice day! In the real world, this would be a common conversation between a store clerk and his customer. But for our pre-kindergarteners, it would be a great learning experience. This Mini-supermarket center would provide wonderful opportunities to learn about money concepts, food and nutrition, and math concepts. In addition, it would also stimulate creative role play, language and early literacy skills in every child. Our Pre-K class is composed of bilingual children from low-income homes, lacking meaningful and positive real life experiences. Having a grocery store as a learning center would enhance their cognitive, social and emotional development.

By the second semester of the school year, my students demonstrate successful knowledge of language and pre-literacy skills. As a matter of fact, many of them have already learned how to write and read short sentences. In fact, once they have reached these learning goals, they are "ready" to combine their academic knowledge and skills with real life experiences or situations. I have noticed that children are interested in applying their knowledge of math concepts to "real life situations" by counting coins and bills, practicing simple additions, and utilizing the calculator. In class, we have developed activities in which students participate by counting "aloud" the amount of money they need to buy an orange or an apple. Even more, they have taken notes of the list of items they will buy for their entire family. In sum, most of my students are eager to learn and to put their knowledge into practice by interacting with each other and getting along with others.

In order to establish our super mini-market in the classroom, we will need a store, cash register, note pads, store signage, shopping baskets, play money, pretend credit cards, fruits, vegetables, canned goods, bread, and pastries. My pre-K students will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of high order thinking skills at early childhood level,(i.e. organize, predict,and problem solving). Indeed, by working in cooperative groups, they will be able to categorize the items or products sold, to re-order products, and to assign "roles or responsibilities" between their peers. This project will greatly benefit the entire class by teaching students to build or construct new knowledge based upon previous knowledge and meaningful real life experiences.

As a teacher, I strongly believe all children can learn, regardless of their socio-economic status or language barrier. They are gifted in one or several cognitive areas. My goal is to discover their area(s) of giftedness and to teach them by setting high expectations for all of them. Your help will ensure to discover their area(s) of giftedness and to expose these students to meaningful learning centers in order to maximize their learning process. By supporting our super mini-market store or super market you will help us discover a future public accountant, business person, sales person, banker, team leader, or marketing manager. Who knows?