Location: indoor or outdoor

Materials: play kitchen, dishes, food, menus, aprons, clipboards with paper and pencils

You probably have a play kitchen in your program. An easy play provocation to set up is to simply add a few new materials to your play kitchen to turn it into a restaurant.

Collect a few take-out menus from a local restaurant, add in a notepad or clipboard and pencil, and possibly aprons or hairnets.

You can even get your kids involved in the process of opening the restaurant. Have them help you brainstorm what type of restaurant you want to open and what to name it. Invite them to help you make a sign.

Your children of all ages will be able to join in on this play. Your preschoolers can pretend to be waitstaff and take orders, your toddlers can pretend to cook or eat. You and your infants can pretend to be patrons in the restaurant. There's something for everyone.