So much more than dramatic play

A few weeks ago in Jumpstart we hosted a party at the dramatic play center (ain’t no party like a Jumpstart party, right?), and I was lucky enough to get to play with the kids that day. I really like dramatic play because, even though we have a theme to work with, what happens there is really driven by the children. Rather than being totally in control, I become a guest in their little kitchen area and I get the opportunity to see the way the kids interact with each other and with the environment around them. The types of foods they pretend to cook and the way they talk to their toy dog gives me some idea of the lives they live outside of the classroom. And best of all, that this is part of the Jumpstart curriculum is so telling of the little ways we can learn just from living. The kids are always adorable, but the day we had the party they was especially charming. Because of the excitement surrounding the party theme, dramatic play got a little hectic at times, and the party hats I made got stepped on and ripped and at one point a little boy took his arm and just swept all the plastic party snacks and empty cups filled with invisible Sprite right off the table and all over the floor. Throughout the chaos, though, I kept seeing little things, like one girl helping put a hat on a girl who had just come over, or the little boy who got the toy mop and cleaned up the floor. They took turns having it be their birthday or their friend’s birthday or their baby doll’s birthday. They shared imaginary cake and pizza with each other. And when it came time to clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere actually cleaned up. And as they put all those empty boxes of cake mix and torn up napkins away in their little pretend kitchen, I was reminded of something my mother used to say to me after my baby sister was born (my baby sister is now on the verge of entering middle school, and the worst part is she’s only going to keep getting older). “Be careful with her, she’s a little person.” That was hard to imagine when it was just a chubby creature who couldn’t talk, but over the years I’ve had the privilege into seeing her turn into a beautiful  not-as-little person. My fellow party-goers weren’t just kids, weren’t just 3- and 4-year-olds—they were little people. I feel so old saying this, but they’re going to grow up so fast and in no time at all they’ll be throwing parties and going grocery shopping and doing the dishes and hopefully not toppling over tables full of food. I don’t know how much preparation I was able to give them during center time as far as party etiquette goes, and I’m not even sure if I was able to drill enough vocab into the conversation to suit an ideal lesson plan. But I do appreciate the fact that they let me glimpse the way they see life through dramatic play, and I’m so honored that I get to be even a small part of these precious little people’s very real and very promising lives.

~Kathryn Gillon
Corps member
Team Learning 2