Playing “Restaurant” Can Stimulate Your Child's Play Skills, Language and Critical Thinking

One of our themes during the school year was “R” is for Restaurant week! It was a fun one as we filled up our drama room with pretend tables, tablecloths, plates and silverware to play make-believe. We had different children pretend to be the chef, customers, hostess and waiters. Playing “restaurant” can be a great way to stimulate your child’s play and thinking skills while also familiarizing them with the routine of a restaurant so that expectations are a bit more clear when they do go to one with the family!

Playing Restaurant

During non-meal time, play restaurant by setting up a pretend table on the floor of your living room. Setting this up in a place where you do not normally eat makes all of the possible associations (positive or negative) that kids have during meals dissipate. It will allow for a fruitful play experience that will even have positive effects on mealtime later during the day!

Set up your pretend restaurant with pillows from the couch, a blanket on the floor, and silverware and plates. Plastic Tupperware usually works great for pretend plates! Using real kitchen items like spatulas and whisks gets kids excited as they pretend to mix up and cook foods for you as the chef or help serve your meal for you as the waiter. During these back and forth role-playing scenarios, you can even highlight that “restaurant” starts with R as you emphasize that sound. By talking about the sounds in words versus the letters, you are focusing on harnessing your child’s listening skills for phonology which is the sound system that has to develop for later reading. It doesn’t hurt articulation skills either! Discuss the different roles in the restaurant and switch roles as you take turns together and/or with siblings. Pretend to make funny-sounding dishes like watermelon spaghetti and buttery apples! Playing with language and being silly is a great way to also teach language skills as we learn to describe foods with silly words.

Extension Activity

To add on a more hands-on component to your play, try making your own restaurant’s placemats! First you can discuss what the placemats are used for and if you have seen them more at home or in restaurants, etc. Then you can use blank paper to make your own designs with simple crayons or get fancy with glitter, stickers, and paint! Drawing or printing out a placemat template of where the plate and silverware go can also be a fun way to start this activity. Once it dries, use it during meals and see how much more interested in eating your kids are!

If you have played restaurant at home or made your own placement, take a photo and tag us @theindylab!