Waiter, Waiter! Preschool Restaurant Dramatic Play

Perhaps this isn’t such the glamorous part of dining out, being the waiter. Children are very familiar with waiters though. I know waiters do not wash dishes but they do often clear the dishes and it’s all related. This is really dramatic play and sensory play combined. How about adding in life skills as well? They did very well washing the dishes!  The two oldest boys made sure everything washed, rinsed and then dried and stacked! I was so impressed to look over and see all that they had done.

Waiter, Waiter! Preschool Restaurant Dramatic Play

We used:

• One large bin with a shallow amount of water. Just a drop or two of soap.
• One smaller bin for rinsing water
• Dish cloths and drying towels
• play dishes and plastic ware
• drying mat

Tippy Tray Relays

We also did Tippy Tray relays! So fun! It can definitely be done indoors but we took this activity outdoors.

Each child had a tray. I placed 3 or 4 items for each child across the yard on the garden wall.

When I said “go!” they ran to the wall to load their trays. Then they were to carry it without spilling their tray back to the deck.

Sometimes it depended on the age of the child, contents of the tray or how fast they went if they were successful. It was all just fun and not really a race except between the older ones. Such a fun time with large motor, coordination and balance skills!

Our waiter dramatic play activities went along with our Mother Goose Time Community Helpers theme in November. Loved this book Waiter! Waiter! from Mother Goose time Early Learning Experiences. Next I’ll share our pizzeria dramatic play!