Classroom Spotlight: Butterfly Class | Seeds of Faith Preschool | Douglasville, Ga Preschool

Welcome to the Butterfly Class! 
Our three year old class is not your ordinary class. Specific times of the day you can peek in and see us working hard on our weekly focus letter, engaged in story time or designing a master piece. But on any giving day you can walk into our classroom to meet a doctor, a builder, a mermaid and chef working happily side by side. The Butterfly Class is always transforming! We feel that a dramatic- play center in our classroom is an important component to development.

The Dramatic Play Skill Set 
Our students work with and develop different skills as they take part in dramatic play experiences. Dramatic play promotes the development of social skills through interaction with others. They develop role playing where they mimic behaviors and verbal expressions of someone or something they are pretending to be. They learn to use materials and props to extend or elaborate on their play. Dramatic play encourages communication through the use of speaking and listening skills.

Dramatic Play and Development 
Dramatic play enhances our students socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and verbally. When our students “perform a show” they recreate life experiences they actually face. They learn to deal with emotions they may experience. In the process they develop skills that help them to cooperate with their peers. They also develop both gross and fine motor skills – fire fighters climb ladders and parents cook dinner. When our students are involved in make-believe play, they make use of pictures they have created in their minds to recreate past experiences, which is a form of abstract thinking - setting a table for a meal, counting out change as a cashier or dialing a telephone. And in order to work together in a dramatic play situation, our children learn to use language to explain what they are doing. They learn to ask and answer questions and the words they use fit whatever role they are playing.

Where will our imagination take us.... 
Dramatic play helps children explore different roles and situations as children play with items and tools adults use in everyday life. Role play also helps children learn about their community, their surrounding environment, and a variety of careers. We provide the tools 
necessary to promote this form of learning and development.
​Dramatic Play Themes
We change our dramatic play center throughout the year to keep it fresh and exciting. Every month we set the stage” throughout the classroom. Any dramatic play area should be inviting. Presentation alone should inspire creative and imaginative play. This should be an area where the children can immediately take on a role and begin pretending. 

 Props for Play
For each theme we like to saturate the area with props to help shift them in to the realm of whatever they are exploring. Tool sets, “real” food like options, old purses, wallets, keys, and used gift cards are always extremely popular in the pretend play center​.

Books, Puzzles and Manipulatives in the Dramatic Play Center
We place a variety of books, puzzles and manipulatives related to the theme we are covering for the month for our students to explore.
We have great joy in seeing our students reinventing scenes that might take place in other areas of life such as gas stations, building sites, department stores, classrooms, or libraries. Their imaginations amaze us and we just cannot resist the temptation to join the fun and learning. 

Seeds of Faith Preschool is a faith based preschool located at
First Presbyterian Church of Douglasville, Ga. ​​​​