Nursery World - Talk shop

It is important that any planned topic reflects children's learning needs and interests. A project on shopping may stem from the interests of a specific group of children or be in response to an event, such as the opening of a local supermarket. But such a topic is always appropriate because it can build on the familiar and on what children know and can do. Role play

Role play

Young children learn best when they are involved in self-chosen activities that offer stimulation and challenge. Well-planned role play offers children rich learning experiences, which can be revisited and developed over time. It is often in these situations that children function at their highest level and achieve the most.

A topic such as shopping lends itself to the development of high-quality role-play experiences which will augment home corner play. Exciting role-play areas make a significant contribution to children's development across all six areas of learning.

While practitioners have always been good at planning to support communication, language and literacy and personal, social, emotional and creative development through role play, mathematical development has sometimes been sidelined. However, shopping naturally includes counting and calculating in meaningful, relevant ways (see 'It all adds up', page 16).

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