Nobody puts Baby in the corner. Of our dramatic play nursery.
I put a lot of energy into our Baby Care unit because it’s one that I consider to be very beneficial to a child’s development. I set the stage so-to-speak and invited my students to step into the roles of Parent, Nurse, and Physician and encouraged them, by modeling, to really explore what each role looks and feels like. There is something so beautiful about taking care of a tiny new human that is completely dependent on their adult caregivers to meet their needs. I personally believe that preschool age children feel it, especially when provided with the opportunities for role play. Through baby nursery play, preschoolers connect with very tender parts of themselves, increase their awareness as their view into a world outside of themselves is beginning to expand. Taking care of babies helps them strengthen their inherent nurturing skills, and expand their capacity for compassion.
I set up the hospital nursery and had so much fun creating every. single. detail. You know how when you were a kid you’d spend hours setting up your Barbies or your army guys and get completely sucked into the imaginary world you were creating? This is sort of what it’s like for me when I plan and prep dramatic play centers for my preschoolers. I get real into it. After I finished setting up the nursery I could not wait for my preschoolers to come and play!
I used some clear plastic bins that we already had in our classroom as isolates for our babies, and a physician friend donated some blue and white medical towels from his clinic. I didn’t want to use real baby wipes because, well, they’re really wet. So, we used tissues instead (we put them back in the box after playing, to use again next time). I used preemie sized diapers and they fit the dolls perfectly. We used preemie onesies, too. I just cut the bottom half off of them so they fit more like real hospital shirts, and so the kids could change diapers more easily. Preschoolers also brought their own babies from home and I thought that hospital bracelets would be fun, so I used blank white paper event bracelets and wrote “Baby Care Center” on them, added a fake barcode and I.D. number, and included the date. You can zoom in on the picture to see them in more detail.
I walked my students through the steps of newborn baby care. Weigh, check heartbeat and lungs, suck mucus from nose and throat, bathe, measure, diaper, soothe, file nails, soothe, dress, swaddle, soothe, feed and burp, soothe, change diaper, soothe, sleep.
Nearly everything you see in the pictures was purchased on Amazon. (What did teachers do before Amazon?
And I mean, take a look at our pictures and try not to get baby hungry, I dare you.
