Teachers/creative people - supply teacher needing help with role play area

[goingmadinthecountry]

I'm going to be covering a Year R/1/2 class from Monday up till summer. The topic for the half term is Then and Now, looking at homes. I'd like to move the role play area on from last term's theme. Any ideas? I have more enthusiasm than skill when it comes to fine art but can do creative. One thought was an old fashioned beach hut with stripes, partly as it would work really well for creative ideas for the children. And it is summer after all. Is that too far removed from what 1 and 2 are doing? Or any other realistic ideas? I know the school well so am happy to throw myself in and give it a go.

Thanks. I really want to do my best for this lovely class and their lovely regular teacher.

The science museum in London has a nice gallery about then and now about household items, communication etc, I think that it is in the basement, there might be something on their website.

I would do a kitchen area - no machines, washing by hand with a wooden washboard, lots of scrubbing (brushes, brooms etc), no hoover in sight so it can be used to discuss how different we live now.
Also with toys, far fewer toys and children made their own games, maybe introduce some of the old fashioned games (playing with marbles, jojos, skipping ropes, not sure what it is called but you use a piece of wool and string and make with your hands different shapes) - again can be used to discuss how different children lived in the past.
Kind of living room/games area, there was no TV, people played games with each others (dominoes, other games), made their own music

Sounds like a lovely topic.

Great idea - thank you! Cat's cradle, jacks, skittles. Old fashioned playground rhymes. I fancy a trip to London and will check out the website. I'd already thought about making some traditional games for DT, and we had an idea about sepia photos.

Great ideas so far, so thought i'd add my ideas as we are doing a similar topic after half term and i have the role play area set up as a house at the moment but was also thinking about having it as an old fashioned school room with blackboards and slates - excellent for encouraging writing and name recognition.

the other thing you could do is have an old fashioned punch and judy show? Get the children to write scripts and make puppets?

We got rid of our role play area, stuck in a load of big boxes, tubes and put paper on the wall to draw on and called it 'whatever you want area'

the childrens imaginative play (CD7) came on so much more with this

Forgot to add we enhance it every week by putting in a box of different shoes, then different hats, different sheets etc

what a great idea hanaka88, we had a similar response when some new furniture arrived and the head gave us 4/5 massive cardboard boxes - they had a ball just using their imaginations!

I love that - just a bit worried about being too radical as supply! Because Y1 and 2 are in there as well with 1 teacher and 1 TA, there isn't the flow indoors and outdoors, and the little ones seem to be a bit compromised. Would definitely do them good.

My cat... Our parents brought in boxes all the time it is fab!