Children love dramatic play. It is a wonderful teaching tool and great way to encourage imagination and creativity. Any parent knows a child hates to be bored. There will be times your child will need a bit of inspiration to spark imagination. Putting together some Play Boxes will help your child engage in creative play. A Play Box is basically a dress up box with more toys and items.
What do you need?
A plastic tote large enough to house some fun things based on a theme your child would enjoy.
Theme Suggestions:
Safari Box: Purchase a dozen safari animal bean bags and place in the box. You will want to also add in binoculars, safari hat, play camera, and some other fun things for the adventure.
Rescue Hero Box: Fill this box up with costumes or dress up clothes of firemen or policemen along with some accessories to go along with the theme.
Princess Box: A fun box for little girls who all desire at some point to be a princess. Fill the box with princess gowns, tiaras, play princess shoes, and fun jewelry. Have some fun and throw in toy frog or a few princess books.
Pirate Box: Gather together pirate costumes, play parrot, scope, and more fun pirate themed toys for a roaring adventure on the high seas.
Tea Party Box: What little girl does not want to play tea party? You will need pretty fans, parasols, boas, tea hats, jewelry, plastic tea sets, old tea boxes, pretty tablecloth to convert the coffee table or dining room table into a tea area, or you can have a blanket for picnic tea.
Movie Night Box: Movie nights are fun for both girls and boys. This is a box you will need to replenish and plan since it contains food but it is so much fun for the kids to open up as a surprise! Fill the box with fake movie tickets, candy, popcorn, canned or bottled drinks, and a few favorite DVDs to watch.
Grocery Store Box: I may dislike the task of going to the grocery store but playing is so much more fun. Fill your box with play food boxes, play food, an apron or “uniform” for the grocer, a wallet or purse for the shopper with a fake mustache a boy shopper or fun hat for a lady shopper. Add in some fake money and a toy cash register and you are ready for hours of fun.