DIY Grocery Store FUN!

In a time where tablets, television, and video games are taking over, I love seeing my kids get creative when they play. A few weeks ago, Kenzie had a friend over and they created a grocery store in the back playroom. It was simple and consisted of a sign, some plastic food, and Kameron's tool stand. Over the past few weeks that grocery has grown leaps and bounds. I am so excited to share it with you!

    

Since the day that the grocery store was born, Kenzie and Kameron have been on a constant hunt for more items to add to their store. When the kids were little, we frequented a local children's museum. One of their favorite parts of the museum was the pretend Publix grocery store. The museum used recycled boxes of real grocery store items... anything from cereal boxes to laundry soap. They would wrap them in clear packing tape to give it a little more durability. That inspired me to start saving boxes of food after they were used up. I taped them up a bit and let the kids stock their own shelves! This is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about recycling and how to reuse items at home. 

    

As they got more and more into having their own store, I started looking for items for them. I started sharing their excitement for this mock supermarket! I found a great Melissa & Dough cash register on amazon. It works like a real calculator and comes with play money. I thought this would be a fun way to stat introducing different kinds of money, how to buy with cash (they usually see me using a debit card) and how to make change. A sweet friend of ours spotted this mini shopping cart for us (pictured above) at a local consignment shop and we snagged it right up! (Here is a link to the original one.)

What do you need after you have your grocery store all set up? Customers! The kids created a commercial and had me send it to their grandparents. Wouldn't you know that within the hour the kids had their first customers over shopping away! 

 While creating this grocery store with my kids I couldn't stop thinking about how great this would be for a speech room, a classroom, or for parents to make with their kids at home. It doesn't have to cost a thing, just save up your old food containers and set up shop on the floor or at the table. I love any opportunity I get to share with the families I work with that they don't need fancy, expensive materials to give their kids amazing language opportunities. This grocery store provides a TON of fun learning experiences through PLAY!

- Vocabulary

- Nutrition lessons

- Creating a grocery list

-Memory skills/following directions ("mommy needs cereal, oranges, and juice.")

- Asking questions ("Do you have any....?" "Where is the....?"

-Answering questions

-Social skills (greeting other, asking questions, engagement, etc)

- Food groups

-Health vs unhealthy choices

 Whitney, from WhitneySLP on TpT and the Let's Talk blog created an adorable Grocery Store Dramatic Play printable set that is perfect!! It includes name tags, coupons, signs for each food category, Employee of the Month signs (my kids quickly added their own photos to that one!), grocery lists, open signs, and more!! You can check it out, here.