Resources
Wellington boots, tabards and staff identification badges, assorted plastic and silk flowers and plants and plastic Christmas trees, vases, plant pot covers, paper for wrapping flowers and plants, florist's ribbon and bows, carrier bags, shopping baskets, flower pots, plant trays, seed trays, empty seed packets, gardening gloves, wheelbarrows, gravel, sand, stones, potting compost, buckets, watering cans, garden hose, shovels, forks, hoes and brooms, builder's trays and sand tray, tills, till receipts and money, gardening catalogues, signs and price labels.
Preparation
* Make a sign with the children, with a name of their choice for the garden centre.
* Set up the role-play garden centre with a 'way in', an 'exit' and a cash point. Create sections - an area with tables for indoor plants, one for seeds, bulbs and outdoor plants, another for gardening supplies and a 'nursery' in a sand tray in which the children can re-pot plants.
* Discuss the new role-play area with the children. Discuss what people do in garden centres and the roles of sales staff, gardeners, cashiers and customers.
Play possibilities
* Using large equipment to dig, sweep and transport compost, gravel and rocks.
* Dressing up in Wellington boots and tabards.
* Wrapping bouquets of silk and plastic flowers.
* Exploring sand, gravel, stones and water, mixing them together and separating them using sieves.
* Developing imaginative role play.
* Re-potting plants into flower pots in the sand tray or builder's tray.
* Buying plants and using coins.
Things to say and do
* Model the use of key vocabulary - Wellington boots, vase, seed tray, wheelbarrow, gravel, shovel, hoe, catalogue, bouquet, individual flower and plant names.
* Support children's role play in the garden centre. Take the role of gardener, customer or sales person.
* Encourage the children to rearrange the resources, add their own and make their own labels and signs.
* 'I need some flowers for my mother's birthday. What would you recommend?'
Possible learning outcomes
* Takes turns in conversations.
* Works as part of a group.
* Uses language to imagine and recreate roles.
* Recognises numerals.
* Uses coins in play.
* Investigates materials.
* Uses a range of large and small equipment.
* Uses imagination in imaginative role play.
