While most children have been shopping, there is something special about going on a trip to a local shop or business and spending time looking at things of interest without being rushed. Small shops and businesses that are based in the community can feel more personal and relevant to children.
BENEFITS
There are many learning and development opportunities that can be gained from a visit to the local shop.
Social development Children can develop some of the social skills associated with shopping, such as allowing others to exit first, waiting in a line to be served, and not touching items unless they are to be bought.
Mathematics There are many opportunities to draw children’s attention to numbers, shapes and sizes. Older children can weigh items, look at prices and also handle money. Younger children can count items and have their attention drawn to shape and sizes, such as a large bottle of milk.
Language development There are many opportunities for children to develop specific vocabulary both on the journey to the local shops or businesses and also while they are there. Words such as ‘chiller cabinet’ or ‘receipt’ may seem commonplace, but for some of the children they will be new.
Literacy Being out and about encourages children to notice print in the environment. They may see the sign above the shop door as well as prints on products and on notices. Older children might also like to write shopping lists or provide annotations to go under photographs of the visit.
PLANNING A PROGRAMME
If you are lucky enough to be near several local stores or businesses, you might like to plan a programme of visits. It may be that children can go to a convenience store as well as a hairdresser and a local garage. If you are not within walking distance of any local shops, you might make going to some shops part of a programme of larger-scale outings, using public transport or a minibus.
There are a few things to consider when planning a trip to a local shop or business in addition to carrying out a risk assessment:
Discussion with the owner/managerIt will be important to talk to the owner or manager of the shop or business beforehand to talk about whether they are happy for a small group or pairs of children to visit. Some shops or businesses will have particular days or times when it will be more convenient than others. Planning a visit ahead means that children will be able to see or do more things.
What children will do or seeThought needs to be given to what children will be able to do or see during the visit. Interestingly, it is often the small things that children are interested in, such as how the shop’s card machine works or the weighing scales.
Preparing children It can be helpful to do some preparation with children before they visit a shop or business. You might like to read stories or share with them photographs of where they are due to visit. You may also like to role-play being in a shop to help the children learn some of the social skills associated with this particular environment.
BUILDING ON VISITS
There are many ways that you can build on a visit to the local shops. First, you could create a role-play area based on the shop or business that was visited. Aim to get as many real props as possible. Try to model the language that was used so that children can use it later in their own role play.
You could also create a simple picture lotto game. Each child has a photograph of the shop or business that they visited, and images or real items are matched to the shop or business – for example, an image of a spanner would be put with the garage, or a real orange could be matched with the convenience store.
HOME LEARNING
Going to the shops is something that most parents do with their children. It may be just to pick up a birthday card or some milk. Many parents may not see this type of ordinary activity as a way of supporting their children’s learning, particularly in mathematics and literacy.
You could create a display or post up information on your website showing the type of things that they could point out to their child, and also some ideas of things to do together – for example, creating a shopping list.
For individual parents, you may also like to share with them what their child said and noticed on their visit to the shops.
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