Sofia loves pretend play so I knew this doctors office dramatic play setup would be a huge hit. This time I laminated all of the materials so that they would last longer and I’m glad I did because Sofia loved pretending to be a doctor. Dramatic play is so great for expanding toddler’s minds and exposing them to new words, phrases, and objects. Here’s a little more about what’s included in this kit:
First off, these Body Parts Flashcards and Human Organs Flashcards were a great introduction to everything inside and outside of the body. These are super basic human anatomy, but Sofia loved pointing them out on her own body. And internal organs are challenging because she can’t see them, but we used phrases like “this is a stomach, like when your tummy is saying it’s hungry” and that really helped her imagine where they were.
The dramatic play all starts with the waiting room. Sofie put on the nurse badge and nurse hat and asked us to wait in the waiting room while she prepped the doctors office. She loved tidying up and getting everything ready. Then when we came in, she started by asking about my pain level using her pain level chart. This was a great way for us to discuss when it’s okay to be really upset vs when a boo boo is no big deal.
After assessing my pain level, Sofie proceeded with the patient exam. She started by getting my name and birthdate and all of the details and then filled out the form. She asked me where it hurt and today I told her my eyes were itchy and throat itchy from allergies. So she marked that down on her form and got to practice identifying her body parts.
After asking her up front exam questions, Sofie proceeded to checking all of my vital signs. She started with the blood pressure monitor which she loved wrapping around my arm. Then she moved on to her stethoscope (which she’s always afraid of at the doctor) and she used it to listen to my lungs.
Then she moved on to her diagnosis and of course wanted to use everything in her doctors toolkit to remedy my allergies. She started by giving me a shot in my arm (which she also hates at the doctor) so it was nice for her to get to be the one to administer the shot. Then she gave me a bandaid to cover up my shot, just like they do at the doctors.
After that she decided I should probably take some medicine to make me feel better and she gave me the little tray of pills and the pill bottle. Then she remembered she forgot to take my temperature so she used her thermometer to do that. She loves the real thermometer we have at home so it was great to see her interacting with the fake one.