Roleplay that links directly to their own lives and their interests; it is something that all children have in common, regardless of their social background, cultural background or previous experience.
Over the last two years I have spent a long time reflecting on the importance of role play in the Early Years, in Key Stage One and beyond; and some of the best schools I have worked with have seen the huge impact of roleplay beyond the early years.
When we think about roleplay, we often think about changing the ‘roleplay area’ each half term and indeed I did this for many years. However, over the last two years I have had time to reflect on why many of these areas did not get the engagement and learning I had hoped for, despite the hours of preparation. The answer I came to was because many of them were not relevant to the children’s lives and experiences so they were unable to engage in them as they did not know how to relate to them. How many children go to a travel agent, a post office or a vets? Have any of them actually been inside a toy workshop? With that in mind and with the fact that during the pandemic children have had very limited experiences I explored the role of domestic roleplay in schools.
What is domestic roleplay?
Domestic roleplay is essentially a ‘home corner’ and it is a familiar experience that every child can relate to as they all have experience of it. It relates directly to their own lives and their interests and is something that all children have in common regardless of their social background, cultural background or previous experiences. In this post Covid time children have more experiences of ‘home’ than ever before; home has been a place of learning, exploring, playing, creating and safety. For pre-school children this has been the case for half of their life!
Domestic roleplay is something that every child can relate to despite their experiences being different, they can recreate experiences they have at home. With careful planning and the support of skilled, attentive adults, it can provide rich learning opportunities throughout the year. This allows children to explore their social and emotional lives and provides a familiar place for developing language and communication. It provides children with the opportunity to think about themselves and gives them a context to learn more about themselves and the lives of others. In short domestic roleplay is empowering to all – every child has experienced a home; therefore, it is inclusive which is empowering for all children.
So, what are the benefits of domestic roleplay? The benefits of talk go way beyond literacy. James Britten said “Reading and writing float on a sea of talk.”
With the recent EEF reports around the lower levels of attainment at the end of the foundation stage https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/new-pandemic-adversely-affected-young-childrens-development-with-fewer-reaching-expected-levels-by-the-end-of-reception-class
and Key research projects such as Language and Learning – 1970, The Snowling Review in 2011’, The lost boys 2016 and Bold Beginnings 2017 highlight that the acquisition of language is a crucial element in learning and is a key predictor of later educational achievement therefore it is essential that we give children a language springboard to build upon. Reports also point to the importance of the adult role in modelling the use of carefully chosen vocabulary and phrases in supporting language development.
A Report for the Education Endowment Foundation on Early Language Development in October 2017 found that “… there is evidence that the rate at which children develop language is sensitive to the amount of input they receive from the adults around them. The quality of input that children receive is likely to be more important than the quantity. ” “Putting words together may be a better predictor of later abilities than the number of words that a child uses.”
Why develop domestic roleplay?
We know that effective communication is built on close, secure relationships. These relationships nurture a sense of value and security in young children and help to build the high levels of wellbeing that are vital to the learning process. Both taking turns in conversation and engaging in sustained shared thinking, requires adults who are prepared and able to invest quality time each day in building positive relationships. Building strong relationships from an early point in the school year is vital. Spending time alongside children within areas of provision to model how materials can be used, introduce key vocabulary and help children make connections with prior experiences will provide a rich context for learning. In order to support children effectively, staff will need to use language and vocabulary consistently and appropriately and domestic roleplay is a great opportunity to support and develop language and introduce vocabulary.
What could be in a domestic role play area?
Although domestic roleplay in set within the context of the home it is ever changing and growing; reflecting on events in the year and supporting learning across all areas of the curriculum. There should be no limit to the items in a domestic roleplay area and they can be swapped and changed to support the learning of the class or cohort.
Items that reflect everyday experiences at different times of the year can be added such as seasonal clothes and footwear, dressing gown, slippers, coats, hats and umbrella alongside household items such as apron, purses and bags, scarves etc these items support the creation of familiar and invented characters within play.
Most children will want to cook in the home corner, and this is best supported using realistic pots, pans utensils and cutlery, as well as boxes, tins and packets, wooden or plastic food items such as fruit.
Once established, it can be enhanced with real artefacts such as a clock, a calendar, takeaway menus and magazines that relate to the experiences of children. If you have the space, you could develop a front room space as a reading corner close by that includes seating and books to share, reinforcing reading as part of family life.
When thinking about the maths and literacy opportunities this area provides, keep it real. Furniture isn’t labelled in the home, so it needn’t be here. Think about the reading, writing and maths that does form part of home life: scales and jugs or kitchen scales for exploring measure, pans and bowls of different sizes to explore capacity; calendars, books and brochures, shopping lists and birthday cards to write; tape measures and a working clock, a kitchen timer, recipe books and a purse with real money.
Through using both real life and creative role play children will develop Personal social interaction skills and language skills. They can then begin exploring feelings, understanding relationships and negotiating roles. As this area is established and developed, it is essential that adults spend time in there with the children, modelling roles, extending language and conversations as well as using it as a context for small group adult led work. This will help to assess the effectiveness of the space so that you can identify any additional resources that need to be added to increase engagement for different groups of children.
It is a good idea to have your writing table close to the domestic role play – encourage mark making – drawing, writing letter, invitations, cards and lists – a love of writing develops from writing for a purpose. It’s important to have real materials – catalogues, magazines, books, letters, postcard for children to use as a model to keep it real!
I have seen ‘front rooms’ within a domestic roleplay representing a living room with lamps, coffee tables and books. Photo frames showing children within their own homes, with buddies and modelling reading in real life within this area support engagement, these can be changed regularly to keep them fresh and exciting – children love to see themselves in a frame!
How does domestic roleplay spiral through the whole curriculum?
· Wellbeing and mental health – domestic roleplay encourages children to break barriers – they can all cook, clean, feed the pet, look after the baby, sort washing, make a cup of tea.
• PSHE – health eating and oral hygiene, healthy food choices, self care skills such as dressing and undressing and putting on costumes and clothing.
• Expressive Art and Design – putting on a show, exploring and performing. Encouraging making tickets and preparing a show stage. Have art work by an artist they are learning about in the domestic role play, study and develop a love of art.
• Understanding the World – exploring how others celebrate by adding artefacts at times of celebration (Ramadan, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Eid etc) Learning about the past through photos and books from time gone by.
• Maths – sorting, shapes, measuring, time, weight, size, - real life experiences in a real environment
What else does it facilitate?
When setting up your roleplay remember that you don’t need it all in there at the beginning, the middle or the end of the year. Think about how you develop your roleplay.
What about a moving in day or week? Add items slowly and encourage children to help you unpack, therefore taking ownership of the space and learning to take care of it in the process. Consider how you introduce next ideas, new babies don’t just appear – use the learning that can lead to the arrival of a new baby – invite a health visitor, mum or dad in to talk to the children about caring for a baby, prepare the house – bring in a cot, changing bat, buggy over time and then when the children know how to care for the baby introduce the baby.
Domestic roleplay throughout the year is a powerful tool for supporting, introducing and developing language and oracy in children.
Finally, remember life is not a race so use this are an opportunity to support learning steadily. Domestic role play should not be a race because life is not. When adults recognise the importance of roleplay as a springboard for language development there is no end to where it can take you!
Tickhub have produces an annual guide to domestic roleplay – please contact us hello@tickhub to order, for further information or training sessions for your setting.
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