Space Adventure

Let the children be astronauts or aliens for the day and let there imagination take them out of this world.

This space ship was made out of old cardboard boxes and some tin foil, however children could also make a space rocket or the space station out of pillows, tables and chairs. I made a control panel with the planets listed so we could learn about them while we blast off to space. You can make your own space hats or simply use pots and colanders as space helmets. 

Before we took of on our adventure we listened to sang some space songs such as '5 aliens flew round the world' and we also watched some astronauts going to the space station. This helped us to use real life in our role play. We talked about how we might miss our family if we went to space, we started to write letters to tell people what its like in space.

With older children you might extend this by learning some facts about space and the planets or they may want to do there own research by looking at space books. younger children may enjoy painting different planets and even making a space mobile to hanging in their room. 

Holiday Adventure

This is one of my favourite role play activities. This role play is all about choosing a destination, taking a journey to that place, experiencing the food, the sites, and even learning new languages. At the start of this role play we made pretend passports and boarding passes as well as printing some currency from that country to encourage our maths. We then set up a pretend beach or tourist area, shops that sell souvenirs and ice creams, a hotel or campsite, an airport with security checks, and some sights we could visit. We looked at a world map and talked about how far we may have to travel and where we would like to go to. Our next step was to pack a suitcase and travel to the airport. When arriving at the airport we all had our passports and went through security. Then it was time to board the plane and take off. You can talk about different ways of traveling and even venture somewhere you might need to take a boat or drive. When arriving at the destination it is important to talk about the weather and the culture in that city or country. Then of to our hotel before starting to explore. Throughout the activity we wrote post cards home, used pretend money to buy things, and took a tour bus around the garden to see the sights. 

This activity is great for children to learn about new parts of the world and learn new languages. Holiday adventures is a role play that children of all ages will enjoy and you can share the magic moment of a pretend holiday. To extend this activity children can make a scrapbook of their pretend holiday and write or draw about things they did as well as writing postcards and posting them back through their letterbox. If you have lots of spare cardboard boxes you can make an airplane or a boat using this if not pillows and sofas are just as good. Let children use their imagination and ask them questions throughout the adventure  with them taking the lead.

Restaurants

This role play activity is all about setting up a pretend restaurant in your house. This could be a pizza restaurant, a Chinese restaurant or anything your child wishes it to be. Using play food set up a few tables or picnic blankets. Get the children to design a menu for their guests as well as make table decorations. Ask them about things they need to make it a restaurant and if they have visited any before that they like. We included two small notebooks, one to take peoples orders and one for reservations, we then asked everyone in the house if they would like to book a timeslot and how many people would be coming. During our role play we used real money to pay for our food and had to make sure we were giving the right change. Younger children would love to have their teddies as guests at the restaurant. Babies and toddlers really start to watch the world around them and they will start to copy others in role play so during this role play you may see them feeding the teddies or putting food in a play oven. For older children this role play activity can be a great way to talk about healthy eating and their favourite food.  Why not extend this by getting them to help you make a meal or them come up with a meal plan.

Superhero Adventures

I love turning into a superhero for the day and completing missions and pretending I have superpowers. This role play can give children the chance to be superheros for the day. They may want to be one from a book or a TV show or make up their own. We made some superhero books and each time we completed a mission or learnt a new skill we got a stamp.
To start the adventure let the children design their own superhero. Older children could write down the powers they want to have and a name. If your chidlren would like to look the part why not make a mask and a superhero watch from paper. The older children can help you make an obstacle course in the garden or in the house to include training for certain powers such as jumping over buckets or balancing on rope. Toddlers will love to be actvive and running around. It helps with their gross motor skills by moving in a variety of ways around the obstacle course. You can even set up some missions such as a toy cat is stuck in the tree. Discuss how you can use your powers to save the cat. Pretend there is a group of dangerous animals you need to scare off or save someone from. At the end of this role play create certificates to award to the superheroes who have completed their  training.