Do You Hear What I Hear?

One night Mister and Ladybug were sitting at dinner, it was getting dark out and Mister said, "Do you hear that?"  He looked at Ladybug with big eyes and she started to giggle and replied, "Maybe it's a bear!"  They continued playing this game through dinner and named all the nocturnal animals they knew. 

While they were playing the game, it reminded me of the last time I went camping many years ago.  First, we forgot the sleeping bags and my husband bought some that went down to 32 degrees.  That's great except it was 18 degrees that night.  When we sent up the tent we borrowed from my mother-in-law (our tent was missing a very important rod, like the one that holds up the top) we realized it was being held together by duct tape and it was so thin we could see right through it.  The last straw was I DID hear a bear.  That, my friends, was the end of my tent camping days...at least out in the wild.

I decided to combine Mister and Ladybug's "hearing" nocturnal animals and my last camping trip and create an indoor campsite.

We took small pieces of wood, added crepe paper to make a fire.

Our tent

Ladybug looking for the bear

We spent all day pretending we were camping.  We read stories in our tent, went on a bear hunt, and ate smores.  Now, that is my idea of camping.

A Day at Java Street Cafe

I was racking my brain to come up with a new dramatic play area.  All the ideas I had come up with were shot down and then Mister had a light bulb moment.  He suggested a coffee shop, so here is our new dramatic play The Java Street Cafe!

Yes, it's crooked and fuzzy, but the camera was just out of batteries.  It was my last shot on the charge.

The art work is Mister and Ladybug's work.  A coffee shop isn't complete without art work.

A new use for the Bumbo type chair - A highchair.

Dramatic Play - Post Office

Mister and Ladybug's little dramatic play area has been really untouched this summer and I can't blame them since we are actually able to be outside.  However, we have had some hot days and have had to play inside.  During our run of hot days, I created a post office in their playroom and presented it with great enthusiasm.

Before I set up their new post office, we wrote letters to friends and mailed them at the post office.  Unfortunately, the man working at the post office didn't seem interested in playing up our visit.  Ladybug told me that night she didn't really like the post office. 

Sadly, the dramatic play area has been a flop too but it's cute.

On the far wall are stamps.  The mailboxes have letter stickers for putting the correct letter into the mail slot. 

Mister and Ladybug painted a diaper box and I cut out a hole in the front and back for letter mailing and retrieving.

Dramatic Play

 One of my favorite things to do with my children is dramatic play.  I love how you have to use your imagination and it is so open ended.  Recently I set up a doctor's office in the playroom.  The twins were really confused how to play doctor since they are rarely sick.  It took a little bit of modeling before they became interested. 

For the supplies I found old medicine bottles, an old thermometer, ace bandages, band aides, craft sticks for tongue depressors, and anything else that looked like it belonged in a doctor's office.  I printed off prescription cards, patient cards, health posters, and x-rays and then I used contact paper to keep them nice.  It's a good thing my husband looked closely at the x-rays because our doctor's office had a few pet x-rays.  I thought the x-ray with stomach and chest x-ray looked funny.



Supplies

The Waiting Room

Exam Room



The Doctor