Busy Mommy Media » Preschool Pretend Play

Bringing Your Toys To Life With Webkinz Jr.

Stacey — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:56:42 +0000

Right after we adopted our Boxer puppy last Spring, my then 3 year-old daughter decided she needed to have her own puppy, too. Actually, two puppies. Imaginary puppies — Holly and Polly! I have no idea what kind of dog they are but they have been with us this entire last year. She loves to talk about Holly and Polly, how well they behave, what they like to eat, how big they are getting. Don’t get me wrong, she loves our Boxer to pieces…she just likes to have her own puppies that she’s in charge of, too!

Honestly, it never really occurred to me to buy my daughter her own stuffed puppies that she could pretend were Holly and Polly. After all, she has plenty of stuffed animals! But then I learned about Webkinz Jr.! Sure, I had heard of Webkinz from my nieces but thought my daughter was a bit too young for those. Now, with Webkinz Jr., she can join in on the fun her cousins are having but with an online experience tailored toward her age group (3-6yrs)!

WHAT ARE WEBKINZ JR?

Webkinz Jr. is a two part experience. First, they are these amazingly plush stuffed animals! I was amazed at how soft and snuggly they are! My daughters each received a puppy (one blue, one pink) from Webkinz Jr. and those puppies are toted around everywhere with us!!! They are also completely safe for even my 2 year old since they are free of any plastic eyes or noses that could potentially come loose. This made me like the Webkinz Jr. plushes even more! Oh, and they are available in the most adorable creatures — frog, elephant, bunnies, giraffe, bear, puppies, monkeys, and kitty.

Second, each Webkinz Jr. comes with an interactive online experience. I know a lot of parents are hesitant to allow their preschooler and early elementary age children to pay online. It can be a scary place! However, the Webkinz Jr. site has far exceeded my expectations! The site not only requires a parent to register for the child (which allows the parent to have control over different aspects of the online experience) but the page the child will be playing on is free of third party advertising and free of toolbars.

When you first register on WebkinzJr.com you will enter the code that came with your Webkinz Jr. plush and your child will have the opportunity to name their pet. This code brings your child’s new plush friend to life online. Now it is time for the fun! At your pet’s home your child can feed her, bathe her, play, or put her to bed. But the fun doesn’t end there! Your child can also take their pet for adventures around the virtual neighborhood!

Your child can take their pet to the post office to create postcards, to the grocery store to do some shopping, and even going on field trips to the fire station to learn all about fire fighters! My daughter’s favorite thing to do though is to take her puppy to the school where she gets to do all sorts of learning activities like math, creating machines, and color matching. Every part of the site offers some sort of fun and educational value to your child.

But your will also learn about responsibility! Much like a real pet, your child will need to make sure their virtual pet is being taken care of. Meters at the bottom of the screen let your child know if their pet is hungry, tired, bored, or just needs some attention.

MY THOUGHTS, AS A PARENT:

I really love the WebkinzJr.com experience! The plush animals are great and my daughters love playing and snuggling with them, but the online experience is really just amazing. The user interface is fun and easy to use and the games are easily customizable depending on the age/educational levels of your child. This makes the whole experience that much better because it’s not something your child will necessarily out-grow right away. It also means that if your child is more advanced at language skills than math skills, you can adjust those levels individually! You can also add animals to your child’s account each time get a new plush pet by entering in their Jr. Pet Code, found on the tag of the plush.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Webkinz Jr. if you have a child at the preschool age. They will love their new animal friend and that they get to bring their new friend to life online! Finally my daughter has a way to bring Holly and Polly to life!!!

*Disclaimer: I did receive two Webkinz Jr. plush pets from Webkinz so that I (and my daughters) could get a first hand experience with the product in order to bring you an accurate and personal review!

Preschool Pretend Play : Cardboard Box City

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:27:34 +0000

Preschoolers love playing with very simple toys. Cardboard boxes have entertained preschoolers for generations and they can provide hours of constructive creative play. Preschoolers can use their imagination to create their own cardboard box city as part of a pretend play center in the preschool classroom.

You Need

Cardboard Boxes of all shapes and sizes
Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils
Wrapping paper, Extra Wall PaperGlue
Scissors
Carpet Samples
Masking Tape
Empty Paper Towel Rolls

Where to Find Cardboard Boxes

If you do not have extra boxes available to use for this preschool pretend play activity you can easily obtain some by asking around. Many parents of the preschoolers in your class may have extra boxes leftover from a move or large storage items not being used at home and would likely be glad to find some place to get rid of them.

Freecycle has groups all over the country. Find the group closest to your preschool and make a request for extra boxes. This makes it easy to track down boxes for pretend play. All you need to do is pick them up.

Local hardware stores often have leftover refrigerator boxes that they would be happy to donate to a preschool. Most of these large boxes are flattened and thrown away. While boxes of any shape or size are useful and can help your preschoolers build a fun cardboard box city, refrigerator boxes are generally a favorite with preschoolers and would make a wonderful addition to this pretend play activity.

What To Do

Once you have collected all the materials you will need to build your cardboard box city, give the preschoolers free reign to use their imagination. Boxes can be colored, cut, or have things glued to them. Doors and windows can be cut out of large boxes. Preschool teachers or parents may want to help with larger cutting projects so preschoolers do not become frustrating cutting the hard cardboard or hurt themselves.

Preschoolers can glue old wall paper or wrapping paper to the inside or outside of the boxes. Carpet or wallpaper samples can be obtained through local stores simply by asking around. Many times these items are simply thrown away and stores are more than happy to donate their extras.

Use masking tape to tape the boxes together or attach empty toilet paper rolls or other miscellaneous items that preschoolers may want to use. Preschoolers will have fun creating their cardboard city as part of an ongoing pretend play center activity. You can add additional materials each day or provide the preschoolers with everything at once.

The Importance of Pretend Play for Preschoolers

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:24:04 +0000

The wonderful thing about encouraging preschoolers to participate in pretend play is that it can become whatever they want it to be. Preschoolers who are interested in cars can create a pretend garage or race track. Preschoolers who want to imitate their parents can set up a center that mimics their parents work environment or imitate behavior they see in their home.

Emotional and Social Development for Preschoolers

Preschoolers can learn a great deal about the world through pretend play. Emotional and social development is just as important in a quality preschool education as academic education. Preschoolers who develop good social skills early on will be better prepared to be successful during their school years and to become an emotionally healthy adult.

Dolls are a wonderful tool to encourage preschoolers to develop empathy and compassion for other people. Even though preschoolers are working hard to develop their independence, they still spend most of their time being cared for by other people. Having the opportunity to care for someone else helps preschoolers to understand that other people have needs and feelings too.

Group Play

Preschoolers are just beginning to participate in group play but they still have not mastered difficult concepts such as sharing and patience. Pretend play offers preschoolers the chance to merge parallel play with cooperative play. Preschoolers can play on their own while other kids enjoy the pretend play center at the same time or they can participate in pretend play activities together. Pretend play allows preschoolers to play together by acting out situations that they see in their daily lives. This takes some of the pressure out of cooperative play for preschoolers.

Pretend Play as a Stress Reliever

Preschoolers feel stress just as the rest of us do. Stress can come from many sources. Preschoolers may become stressed if their daily routine has changed or if they are board. The addition of a new sibling in the family or the divorce of their parents can drastically change their behavior and the way they interact with other children. Pretend play can help preschoolers deal with difficult emotions. It can be hard for preschoolers to verbalize their feelings when they are stressed out, but during pretend play they can act out the situation or emotions that are bothering them. Preschoolers who are struggling and acting out in the preschool classroom may be better served by spending 10 minutes on their own in the pretend play center to deal with their feelings than by sitting in time out.

Pretend play can also be an important tool for parents and preschool teachers to determine how a preschooler is coping with the various stresses that are present in their life. Preschool teachers can watch for warning signs during pretend play that will give them clues about whether or not a preschooler has been abused in any way by someone in their life. Preschoolers can let their parents and preschool teachers understand things that are bothering them and things that are important to them in a way that they may not be able to verbalize on their own.

Post Office Pretend Play Center

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:19:08 +0000

Add some variety to your preschool pretend play center by creating some simple mailboxes and putting that extra junk mail to good use. Preschoolers can learn a lot about the way the world works by participating in pretend play activities. Give preschoolers a chance to be a postman with only a few simple props.

What You Need

For The Mailboxes:

Several empty cereal boxes
Colored construction paper
Scotch tape
Safety scissors

For the Mail:

Assorted junk mail
Extra envelopes
Folded pieces of construction paper
Crayons
Extra stickers

What To Do

Step One:

Use safety scissors to cut the top flaps off of several empty cereal boxes.

Step Two:

Stack the empty cereal boxes together to form several cubby-like openings. Your mailbox will be more stable if you limit it to 2 or 3 boxes high. You can easily make it larger by taping cereal boxes side by side to make it wider.

Step Three:

Cover the exposed area of the mailbox with colored construction paper. Preschoolers can decorate the outside of the mailbox if they want. Write each preschoolers name on the inside of the boxes.

Create Mail:

Collect extra envelopes and junk mail for preschoolers to use in their post office pretend play center. Preschoolers can make their own pieces of mail by writing letters on pieces of construction paper, folding it in half, and writing their name or the names of their friends on the outside. Use extra stickers as “stamps” that preschoolers can add to their mail.

Variation

Label each mailbox with a separate color. Provide preschoolers with a collection of letters in each of the colors that are on the mailboxes. Use the mailbox as a color sorting activity by having preschoolers fill each mailbox with letters of the same color.

Preschool Pretend Play Activity – Road Map

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:12:58 +0000

Preschoolers love to create worlds of their own imagination. This simple activity uses materials you can find around the house and will turn preschoolers into busy city planners. This great preschool pretend play activity will keep preschoolers busy for hours, creating and playing. Expand the activity by having preschoolers draw a map of the roads they created when they are done.

Pretend Play Supplies

Floor SpaceMasking TapeToy TrucksToy Cars
Optional:Wooden blocksPlastic figuresToy buildingsSmall ToysConstruction Paper

How to Play

Test the masking tape on a piece of your carpet in an inconspicuous location. Press the tape to the carpet, let it sit for an hour or so and remove it to make sure that it will not damage the carpet.Show preschoolers how to lay pieces of tape on the floor to create roads. Help preschoolers create squares to show where buildings may be in their city. Tape pieces of green or blue construction paper to the floor to show grassy space or water.When preschoolers have created a system of roads that they are happy with, help them to create buildings out of wooden blocks and place them at various locations in their city. Help preschoolers populate their city with small dolls or plastic figures.When preschoolers have completed their masking tape city, they can use small cars and trucks to drive along the city streets that they have created.