The children were playing in the family corner. In the family corner, there was some plastic food and empty cereal boxes for them to use. There was a cupboard for all the food and boxes. Then next to the cupboard, there was a shelf filled with cups of tea bags, coffee, sugar, salt and rice. In front of it was a small table with a cash register.

The children that were playing at the family corner was playing shopping. J asked me to join them with their shopping. J gave me some pretend money to buy things. P went to grab a phone to put next to the cash register.

P said, “here J, this is for you to make calls, if you need someone’s help”. T went to get some fruits and cereal boxes to put on the shelf to sell. P said “we are ready now”. Then J said to me “come and buy something”. When I walked to the cash register, J said, “what do you want to buy?”. I then asked, “what do you have?”. J started to list some of the things he had. Then I paid J the ‘money’ and bought some fruits from him. Then, it was the next person’s turn to buy things. They continued this process for awhile but using different objects/food with a different person.

J soon needed to call someone, so he decided to use the phone. Soon, I decided to suggest to them to be turn-taking/sharing so that they could each get a turn with the cash register. “Suggestions can be used to enhance many areas of children’s learning” (MacNaughton and Williams, 2004, p. 194). Gonzalez-Mena (1998) mentions that teachers “should encourage sharing and taking turns” (p. 326), so that is why I decided to suggest sharing for the children.

I think that from this ‘dramatic play’, the children get to learn to “act out their feelings, as if they were someone else, or were experiencing an event again” and “they relieve anxiety and get used to the new situation by ‘playing out’ that experience” (Somerset, 2000, p. 63).

From this play, they got to interact with their friends, which provided them the “opportunities for children to interact with…. other children” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 73). The children also “develop knowledge about the role of the wider world of work, such as the… supermarket” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 56). I think that the children have extended their knowledge about ‘the supermarket’ after this dramatic play experience.

I think that next time if I do this again with the children, I could add more materials to the play to make it more interesting and creative. For example, we have different cooking utensils, and ‘dress-up’ clothing. We could have used these items to enhance the play by dressing up as other people, or using different materials and utensils to sell. This could make the play experience more dramatic and creating a new, exciting event for the children. I think that if we did this, it might have been more interesting and enjoyable for the children.

Fixing Machines

Today, a teacher took out a set of printers, fax machines, keyboards (that were unusable) and some screwdrivers from the storeroom for the children to play with. The children do not normally get the chance to play with it, so they were all very interested in it. The children all wanted to take a screwdriver to ‘fix’ the machines. The children had to share and take turns with others with the screwdrivers. “Children develop responsive and reciprocal skills, such as turn-taking and offering” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 74).

They all really enjoyed it. They all used the screwdrivers to turn some screws from the machines and they were putting back some loose screws back on. They really enjoyed it. Some of the children who were waiting for their turn were playing on the keyboards. There were also some notebooks and pens next to the keyboards and the children took that opportunity to do their ‘work’. They did some writing on the notebooks and then they did some typing. Then they repeated the process or they took their turn on the screwdrivers.

Then, a girl: S, she said to me, ‘you have your turn now’. I was so surprised that she would give me a turn. Then while I was having my turn, she was watching me, looking to see what I was doing. I was removing some of the screws by turning the screwdriver round and round. I repeated the process again and then S said to me, ‘my turn now’. So, I gave back the screwdriver to her. Then, I started to realize that she was copying what I was doing. I think I used a teaching technique called ‘demonstrating’ to S. As stated by MacNaughton and Williams (2004) “demonstrating will be most appropriately used as a teaching technique when: children are keen to learn the skill or technique” and “when children are exploring new equipment or materials that require skills or techniques that are new to them” (p. 56).

I think that bringing out this set of machines it a really good idea as it lets the children explores something new and different. They also get many different experiences from what we normally do. “The environment should offer a wide variety of possibilities for exploring, planning, reasoning, and learning, with space arranged to encourage active exploration, providing both new challenges and familiar settings so that children develop confidence” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 83). Also, I think that other children can observe and learn from others. For example, when S observed what I did, she copied and learnt from that. Then, other children can learn from S. “The programme should provide opportunities for children to interact with a range of adults and with other children” (The Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 73).

I think that next time when it is my turn to set up something, I would want to take out the machines so that the children can become more familiar with the technologies. They could also learn and communicate with others. I also think that children can gain different experiences from using these items. I enjoyed watching what the children was doing and I was glad that I got to have a turn. I think S felt comfortable and enjoyed that I could show her what to do before she began exploring some more. I think that this activity is a good experience for the children and the teachers as we do not normally get to do this activity.