A well-planned home corner will offer children particularly rich opportunities for imaginative play and role play, but should also provide a 'real' context for exploring ideas across many other aspects of the curriculum.
The area should be designed to mirror, as closely as possible, a home environment that is familiar to the children, reflecting their culture and their personal experience.
RESOURCES
Where space allows, aim to represent more than one room in the home area. In smaller settings, provision may comprise one room with ample opportunities for play - for example, a kitchen with a dining area.
Screen dividers are useful in enclosing a space to create a 'room', and fabric pieces can be used effectively to lower ceilings or to represent curtains.
- A selection of dressing-up clothes should be available, along with a collection of bags and purses. Clothes should reflect a range of cultures and be suitable for a variety of occasions, roles and weather conditions.
- Provide male and female dolls reflecting ethnic diversity.
SITTING ROOM
Aim to provide:
- low, 'coffee'-style table
- upholstered chairs and/or sofa
- cushions
- pretend television/DVD player on unit or cupboard, remote controls
- clock
- telephones (landline and mobile)
- directories, notepads, address books and pens/pencils
- imitation fire and mantelpiece
- fireguard
- magazine rack with children's comics, magazines and books
- photograph albums and safety frames containing current and past
photographs of children
- dog/cat basket.
KITCHEN/DINING AREA
Aim to provide:
- units such as a sink, oven, fridge, washing machine, cupboards
- plates, cups, saucers, bowls, cutlery
- play food, such as recycled boxes and packaging (clean with no sharp
edges), commercially produced fruit and vegetables
- utensils such as wooden spoons, fish slices, whisks, spaghetti spoons,
ladles, biscuit cutters, rolling pins
- saucepans, frying pans, wok, colandar, baking trays
- microwave oven, toaster
- kettle, teapot
- washing-up bowl, dish cloth, pan scrub, tea towel, washing-up liquid
(empty bottle)
- apron, oven gloves
- dustpan and brush
- recipe books/cards
- wall clock
- egg-timer
- vacuum cleaner
- bucket
- washing powder (empty box), clothes airer, pegs
- laundry basket
- iron, ironing board.
BEDROOM
Aim to provide:
- child-sized bed and baby's cot
- pillows, mattresses, bedding
- dressing table
- wash basin unit
- alarm clock
- jewellery box containing appropriate and safe jewellery
- cushions, bean bags
- soft toys
- slippers
- water bottle
- story books
- full-length mirror
ORGANISATION AND LOCATION
- The area should be spacious but feel warm, cosy and comfortable. A corner or a bayed area is more likely to replicate the feel of a room in a real house than an open area. The area should be free from draughts and positioned away from thoroughfares. Carpet can contribute to a comfortable feel.
- There should be enough equipment to promote satisfying play experiences but not clutter the area.
- Ensure the equipment is easily accessible to children and stored in an organised way. Where possible, provide storage that reflects a real home - keep play food tins in kitchen cupboards, play vegetables in vegetable racks and cutlery in drawers, clothes in a 'wardrobe' trolley. Use photograph/word labels on cupboard doors, drawers and baskets to help children find resources and put them away after use. You could silhouette some items that are stored on shelves or on wall hooks, but too many in this area can detract from the feel of a 'real' home.
- Equipment should be well maintained. A designated person should be responsible for checking resources on a regular basis and for removing or replacing broken items.
- Where space is at a premium and some home corner equipment is rotated, ensure that each set-up is available to children for an extended period so that they can explore and develop ideas over time. Any changes to provision should follow a period of observation and evaluation.
- It is crucial that key persons make time to talk with children and their parents and carers, to find out about the families' home experiences and environment, so that they can resource the area and support children appropriately.
- Plan to spend time observing and engaging sensitively with children.
- In spacious settings it may be possible to offer an additional role-play area, the focus of which is changed periodically in response to children's current interests and experiences. The position of this area should be planned carefully to enable children to make links between it and the permanent home corner.
OUTDOOR PROVISION
Provide home-play areas on a larger scale outdoors - for example, with a garage or garden. A 'den' created from lengths of fabric over a frame can be effective in creating a room space. Additional role-play areas may also be planned for the outside area - for example, car maintenance garage, supermarket, bus station - and children supported in making links between the indoor home corner and outdoor role-play areas. If possible, create outdoor paths or roadways to, or between, areas.
EXPERIENCES
In this area, children might enjoy:
- exploring the area and equipment
- playing with other children
- imitating adults
- pretending situations and experiences - for example, planning birthday parties, going shopping
- making links with other role-play areas - for example, feeding the 'baby' and dressing him in the home corner, then taking him to the clinic
- finding solutions to challenges - for example, how can we arrange the cups so they all fit on the shelf? How big does the tablecloth need to be to cover the table?
LEARNING
The learning that might take place in this area includes:
- developing relationships
- turn-taking and co-operating
- exploring and negotiating domestic roles
- making connections in their experience and learning
- developing self-esteem and a sense of belonging
- engaging in a shared play theme, and developing ideas, with other
children
- using talk, gesture, actions and facial expressions to communicate
- using objects to represent other things
- representing and recreating experiences
- exploring feelings and finding appropriate ways of expressing emotions
- developing a sense of time
- solving practical problems, developing mathematical concepts and
applying learning
- exploring everyday uses of ICT.
LINKS TO EYFS GUIDANCE
- UC 1.2 Inclusive practice
- UC 1.4 Health and well-being
- PR 2.2 Parents as partners
- PR 2.3 Supporting learning
- PR 2.4 Key person
- EE 3.1 Observation, assessment and planning
- EE 3.3 The learning environment
- L&D 4.2 Active learning
- L&D 4.3 Creativity and critical thinking.
