Since we can’t go out in the town due to public health concerns, let’s bring the town to us! Studio 5 Contributor Celeste Whitney shares a dynamic vision for Studio 5’s At-Home Activity Plan: let the children build a pretend town and run it!
This idea is loaded with lessons about industry, commerce, marketing, math and the value of money. They will have a blast playing a game (that takes longer than ten minutes)!
At-Home Activity Plan: Pretend Town
Suggestions:
- Name your town (like “Whitney Town”, after your last name). Create stores, restaurants. Offer services like garbage man and police.
- Use monopoly money for your currency.
- Offer an incentive or prize to the person with the most money at the end of the week (or day or month).
- Kids “hire” each other to do a chore or “apply” for the jobs to earn.
Craft Connection
Setup stores & signage. Have the kids use their own ideas and skills to make the store signage and setup. Make wallets. Create menus, and more!
Snack Break
Eat at the “Restaurant.” Make a menu of different dishes for the chef to prepare and serve. Try Apple donuts (apples cored, and sliced, then sliced to make donut shapes) w/peanut butter on top, frozen blue berries (any frozen fruit is fun), bell pepper sticks, even popcorn. (Fruit and veggies are one of the only things readily stocked in the grocery store right now. If kids are ordering it, preparing it and making it a game then they’re also more likely to eat it).
Media Moment
Play Disney Esplanade music. This is not the movie songs! This is the actual music you hear at the park including the sound effects from the rides. This literally puts a pep in every single persons step. Find one resource here.
Out & About
Workout with a “Trainer.” Kids “hire” a different trainer who has to come up with an exciting workout in the back yard. This might be obstacles they make up or help them look up at-home workouts to mimic. This is another awesome life lesson on keeping active for a purpose.
The jobs we are currently doing in Whitney Town are:
- Grocery store (in our pantry)
- Restaurant (kitchen)
- Soda shop (small cups of soda to teach the kids they might waste their money but also a fun treat)
- Police Officer (goes around and asks if everyone has done each of their chores and if not, they get a ticket.)
- Gym instructor (our outside activity)
- School teacher (Obviously this is Mom, and runs in 15 minute increments for one-on-one study. Then we switch, adding to the fun because it’s part of the game.
- Mail man (delivers letters and invoices from the grocery store)
- Movie theater (we only have screen time two days a week but when we do, we pay a fee to the theater and buy popcorn)
- Garbage man (this is one of my boys regular chores so now we pay him)
Find a complete list of free online resources here. Click here for more of our full activity plans.
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