Role-play Vets

Last week the children began their own role-play game which started with a 'tiger loose in the front room!'  To enhance their play I provided them with; a toy tiger (raided my son's room!), a storage crate (cage) and a net to catch the tiger. 

Well this kept them entertained all after noon.  I watched as their game gradually evolved from 'capturing a dangerous tiger and returning it to the zoo (repeatedly)' to 'caring for the tiger, who wasn't scary anymore'. This week I thought the children might like a role-play vets providing them with the opportunity to 'care' for a range of animals. I raided the local Pet City for leaflets and designed some simple forms for the children to incorporate into their play. 

I also used cardboard boxes to make cages, by cutting out strips from one side of the box and made a medine cabinet out of another box.

We then rounded up all the furry 'pet' animals we could find and ended up with; dogs, guinea pigs, piglet,  parrot, and a turtle family (it's times like this that my daughter's obsession with cuddly toys comes in handy!).  I set up a waiting room and reception area and the vets surgery.  I also had the added advantage of the older children being off of school, who I knew would want to join in (I am under strict instructions that I am not allowed to put their photos on the web, incase their friends should see) and through their involvement would help the younger ones to understand the various roles within the play.
Well the waiting room has been busy all week!

We've registered our pets, phoned up for emergency appointments, gone out on emergency call-outs......

...explained what is wrong with our pet...

.... had to have our animals stay at the vets overnight for operations.....

....swapped roles...

and wrapped and bandaged ....and wrapped and bandaged!

And now they've pinched the chairs and made a school in the hallway!

Links to EYFS:
PSED: Making Relationships (interacting with other children and negotating roles)
CLL: Language for Communication (communicating during play)
CLL: Language for Thinking (using language to explain what will happen next in the game)
CLL: Writing (using pens to fill in the forms, make appointments etc)
CLL: Handwriting (using pens to fill in forms, make appoinments etc)
PSRN: Numbers as Labels and for Counting (suggesting appointment times, providing / writing down telephone numbers, billing customers for treatment)
KUW: ICT (using telephones, mobiles during their play)
KUW: Time (talking about when the animals needed to be collected / return to the vet, when an appointment would be available)
PD: Using Equipment and Materials (using pens etc)
CD: Developing Imagination and Imaginative  Play (taking on a role within the game, acting out that role, using props to support their play, suggesting a story-line)