Gingerbread Dramatic Play

When I was a little girl, my grandma used to give me a wooden spoon, a bowl, and a deck of cards to bake alongside her. I loved mixing those cards and serving them to my family. Charlie loves to bake in the kitchen as well, so I decided to make her a Gingerbread Dramatic Play set. This gingerbread bakery dramatic play set helped her learn more about measurements, worked on her reading, and provided her with days of holiday fun.

gingerbread dramatic play

I started by gathering boxes and containers that I used in the kitchen for baking. I used a butter box, baking soda box, egg carton, and salt container. Then I purchased some empty plastic jars on Amazon to use for the other ingredients. I wanted her to be able to read a recipe and pretend to mix the items, so I made cards with the item and measurements on them to put inside the containers.

Then, I went to her play kitchen and grabbed all the baking tools I could find. I did go to the dollar store to grab a few other goodies to add to this set.

bakery dramatic play tools

For this section of the dramatic play, Charlie can take the recipe card, get her mixing bowl and add the ingredients one at a time. After that, she can take the felt and rolling pin to roll out her dough. She can pretend to make the cookies by using the cookie cutters on the felt.

Next, I created an oven where she can bake her cookies. I made it a printable oven that you can piece together and hang with clips. I put mini plastic cookie sheets in the play set as well as some foam cookies for her to put on the cookie sheet to bake.

You need to have milk with your cookies and plates to serve them on. I used an empty milk jug and cut out the back. I filled it with napkins so she could pretend to put milk in the cups. She loved this part.

There is another section of this Gingerbread Dramatic Play where you can set up a bakery and sell the cookies. I included order forms and premade money for her to work on her math skills. There is even a tip jar.

I also created another section where you can build a gingerbread. I found large felt gingerbread for this section, but you could use paper or foam too. There are little cards for the children to take and follow the directions to build their gingerbread. This is meant to be a play-and-put-back area, not glued down. However, you could involve glue if you choose to do so.

I wanted this play area to also help enhance her reading, math, and writing so this set does just that. There are open-ended extensions for math using manipulatives and a few math games. I have included a variety of writing activities including two mini books, one on colors and one about a gingerbread house.

Finally, there are a few crafts to make a gingerbread girl or boy or a gingerbread house. 

Charlie is 9 and we still set up this bakery dramatic play. She loves to use her imagination and celebrate the season. You can find supplies I used for this Gingerbread Dramatic Play by visiting my Amazon Store.

Here’s what a few teachers had to say about this Gingerbread Dramatic Play:

“Probably my favorite dramatic play theme ever! So perfect for December!”

“This is the best dramatic play station!”

“We love these dramatic play centers. They are so much fun with educational components mixed in.”

You may also like some of my other dramatic play sets:

Or read about more fun holiday activities here on my blog:

Megan

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Hello!

I’m Megan, a first grade teacher and a mother to 7 amazing children. I love to create and collaborate with teachers. When I’m not teaching, I love spending time with my family, baking and playing tennis.

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