When I returned to teaching a mixed Reception/Year 1 class again a couple of years ago, I found myself with a Role Play Area in my classroom.
Whichever year group I've taught, and even before I was mantling, I have done bits of role play and drama with my class... but I was never very good at Role Play Areas. They never seemed helpful to learning and I often just wanted them somewhere tucked away where the children using it wouldn't make too much noise. I'd set them up, they'd become a mess. I would leave the children to decide what to do in them, and there would be games of mummies and babies all.year.long.*
My various attempts to Do Something about role play areas over the years have included:
Spending hours in the holiday setting up a role play area, teaching the children how to use it and then letting them get on with it, while they paid little attention to its actual intention.
Setting up a role play area with the children, linked to our topic, then letting the children get on with it.
Leaving the role play area open-ended, with resources in but no particular theme.
These various approaches had various outcomes and various frustrations, but I never really found myself enjoying having a role play 'area' even though I enjoyed role play within my class.
I didn't really pay much attention to the evolution of role play areas in my class until I stopped and looked at my current one:
It looks pretty messy (even though this was after the children had 'tidied up') and to the outside eye it is not really clear what it is. But this is one of the most purposeful role play areas I've created with a class, and (of course) it's down to Mantle of the Expert.
This particular area started as a plain shed (I love my shed - I'd highly recommend having one in any classroom). This is how it became Percy's Hut as part of our steps in to our Percy's Park Keepers' mantle.
1. We read lots of Percy books. The Year 1 children did some watercolour portraits of him which we later added to his hut.
2. We wondered what Percy's park might look like, and created it in a huge area in the classroom using paper, pens, blocks and other lose parts.
3. We made a map of the park
4. I pointed out that we had forgotten a key feature of the park - Percy's hut!
5. We decided together where Percy's hut would be on the map.
6. The children thought about what might be in Percy's hut (bed, table, food, TV, etc).
7. We began to set up the hut using these things. During this time, a few Year 1 children made some 'Percy's Hut' signs.
8. There was a storm in the park and Percy was in despair. He put up a poster outside his hut asking for help (see poster on the front of the hut)
9. Unfortunately, lots of animals were injured in the storm. The children brought the animals to Percy's hut for treatment. To begin with this was done through make believe and imaginary animals, then we added cuddly animals (see range of cuddly woodland animals in the hut).
10. We needed to log the different animals coming in for treatment so the Year 1 children filled in some forms and were given free rein of where to put them in the hut (see 'Animal Patient' posters all over the hut).
11. The animals naturally needed feeding. We learnt about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and made some food for them (see tray of small pink tubs. You can't see it, but they are labelled and are filled with leaves, grass, blackberries and pieces of string masquerading as worms).
12. The next problem we found was a fallen tree with lots of homeless and injured birds on it. Naturally, we had to take them to Percy's hut too, where they are currently residing on the roof (see paper bird-like items along the top of the hut).
And that is the current status of our hut. I'm enjoying the fact that it The children are using it purposefully in their own time (aside from a few Reception children who are doing their own thing, as Reception children tend to do in the autumn term) and they take care of it (in their own, four-and-five-year-old way). I'm enjoying having a role play area that is part of our Mantle and that the children are invested in because it is used in the story and constantly evolves as a result.
That's all for now.
* Of course, children need to play mummies and babies, but I personally find it tiring all. year. long.
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