Advice on tips to expand home corner play

[mumo3g]

We recently got a new toy kitchen which the children adore! (much better than the old one we had) We already had plastic food etc. Wanted to get ideas on how we can expand on what we already have.

The other day the children were playing resturants and we came up with a menu idea and making up meals based on what we already have (not implimented yet).

So does anyone have any other ideas we could use? We have a laminater that isn't getting used as much as we could do.

I don't have a home corner I have a role play area. We do hospitals, dentist, restaurant, post office, camp sites, fruit and veg stall, supermarkets........ Why limit it to home corner!!!!!!!!!!!

Pick up take away menus everywhere you go. High chairs for the dolls, so they can be fed.

Is it a kitchen that can be used as something else too? Ie workbench?

Depending on age of children you can use dry pasta, rice, lentils etc for 'cooking'

Use salt dough to make a variety of food, then when its dry paint it, obviously with the children.

Recently i went on a course about imaginative play/role play e.t.c and they said that home corners or whatever you want to call it should be something that the children can connect to, so things like vets, dentist, post offices, travel agents e.t.c can go over their heads, (although i'm sure the children still enjoy these) and you can ask them what they would like to play with e.g lots of children like bob the builder, so work toys and bricks, so the can build things, or superheros den with spiderman and superman things.

And do you have an old set of weighing scales - or you can buy some cheap ones. The old fashioned ones with weights on one side and the bowl on the other are good fun - excellent for linking in to learning journals.

I should have said, I'm a cm. Don't have that much space but what we do have apart from this kitchen unit with the sink on one side and the cooking on the other, is a couple of storage units on castors so they can be moved about.

I had the idea that we can repostion the units so they can make a shop or something. Leaving the room open gives more space and movement. we have only one time during the day which is before school where there is four children ages 2 1/2, nearly 3 (who is advanced for his age) 6 and 8 (8 year old is also advanced but still enjoys role play stuff.) Most of the other times we are only looking after 1 child at a time.

Thanks for the ideas. Its given me something to think about.

Could link to books/ rhymes too eg 3 bears house/ castles. Cave from bear hunt etc etc
As another poster said you shouldn't be limited to "homes" although you could explore different types of homes depending on interests of the children.
I always thought the great thing about CMs is that you can do the "real life" eg going on a train/bus/ to post office etc but you could recreate these again if children show interest?

Why not go down the foreign food aisles in the supermarket and buy food with unusual packaging, foreign writing and pictures etc. Also get lots of healthy food leaflets that can be cut up and make a poster. Loads of different ways that play can be extended week by week.

little menu pads to write shopping lists, etc
packaging
scales
big, middle size and small of things like bowls, cups, etc
cook books