We kicked off Restaurant Week by turning our dining room into “Mommy’s Restaurant”. My sleepy children came down the stairs rubbing their eyes to find a table with menus, fresh cut flowers from our garden and crayons for coloring their menus. They were so excited! A yummy Pretend Play Restaurant with real food!
I stayed in character as the waitress of “Mommy’s Restaurant” welcoming each of my children, showing them to their table and helping them read the menu choices.
WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST AT OUR PRETEND PLAY RESTAURANT?
As each of my kids placed their order for breakfast I wrote down their choices on a small piece of paper. I gave them each a small container of crayons to color while I got the food ready. I highly recommend the Homegrown Friends’ Granola Recipe– too good to pass up!
I set my kids up for success by preparing most of the food ahead of time so that they did not have to wait at the table too long. My little ones loved being served by a “waitress” and I couldn’t help but smile that the simple addition of a menu, flowers and pretend play made this an extra special morning!
As my children started to finish their meals I brought them the check. I purposefully kept each item at $1 so that we would practice one-to-one correspondence and simple counting and addition. When I gave my children the check I had them use the money from our pretend cash register to pay. They loved this idea!
Our Pretend Play Restaurant with real food was such a successful (and a remarkably peaceful breakfast!) that I plan on adding the breakfast menu concept to our morning routine. Stay tuned! Maybe, just maybe, we will get to school on time!
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