The Dress I'll Wear To The Party

This Is The Dress I'll Wear To The Party by Shirley Neitzel started out a small group time that fostered creative thinking, problem solving skills and social skills. As a little girl prepares for a party she chooses a dress and many, many accessories to wear but there is a problem... the decorative outfit she chooses to wear is developed from her mother's wardrobe.

After reading this story we decided that we would have a party of our own. The children were prompted in planning and putting together their party. Through our discussion we discovered that we would need chairs, clothes, shoes, music, food, and cake at our party.

We adorned ourselves in suit jackets, dresses, dress-up shoes, and hats. Ms. Jolene laid out a table cloth and the children gathered food from the fridge and dishes from the shelves that would be helpful for eating the dinner at our party. Many children used pegs and peg boards to "bake" a birthday cake. When the cake was done they carried to the table and everyone sang the "Happy Birthday Song".

Careful questioning allowed Ms. Jolene to prompt the children in discovering, planning, and creating their own party complete with food, music, cake, guests, fun, and ofcourse learning!

Key Developmental Indicators:

Initiating play

Pretending

Relating to children and adults

Having fun with language

Using vocabulary

Problem solving

Listening and responding