Community Helpers Theme: The Doctor Is In! And the Dentist...and the Veterinarian!

If there is one thing my son does not love, it is visiting the doctor. If there is one thing he does love, it's playing about the doctor! And play is a great way to work through and process intense childhood emotions and fears. I wanted to devote a homeschool day to playing about healthcare workers--doctors, dentists and veterinarians. Each of these occupations could definitely occupy a day unto themselves (or longer for that matter) so I picked a few relevant activities applicable to each one for the sake of our one, fun-filled afternoon of learning.
I set up a doctor's/veterinarian's clinic for dramatic play. We are not big pet people here (although we do have some goldfish!) but I thought my son might have some fun taking care of some of our stuffed animals as their veterinarian. Fido our Firedog from our lessons the other day even returned to the scene for a check-up! I included in our play center:

• a scrub top I found at a thrift store
• our toy doctor set
• some non-fiction children's books about doctors and veterinarians we checked out from our local library
• a collection of band-aids, cotton swabs, large wooden craft sticks (tongue depressors), cotton balls
• a mini-office center with a toy telephone, a note-pad and pens and pencils for jotting down important medical notes--writing opportunities are great to include in dramatic play scenes as they encourage a print-rich environment for emerging readers and writers
• a collection of stuffed animal patients

My son had so much fun playing the role doctor to our plush patients (and to me)! 

He dictated a fabulous dialogue and story line as he worked--about how the dog was "sad" and her "ears hurt." He assured the dog that he was "not scary" as he examined him from ear to toe and everywhere between!

taking notes!

I think our patient is feeling a lot better now!

The Dollar Tree is a great place to purchase inexpensive band-aids for play use.
Opening, peeling and sticking band-aids is a great fine motor exercise. 

February also happens to be National Children's Dental Health Month. In a perfect coincidence, we are learning about community helpers this month and have a dental cleaning coming up next week! Playing and learning about it was a great way to help my son prepare for his second ever visit to our dentist. I had a cleaning earlier in the week and made a point to set aside the sample of floss I received for use with this activity (pictured left) to simulate flossing between our teeth using plastic blocks and playdough. 

I stumbled across this idea and some other great ones here.

I also purchased a 4-pack of toothbrushes from the Dollar Tree specifically for play use and art/sensory activities. We are always telling my son that brushing his teeth makes them sparkly clean, so with this activity, he got to brush a picture of a tooth with some sparkly paint!

You could also do this with white paint on colored paper.

 I recently saw this great activity to teach about brushing carefully to clean our teeth on a Facebook post by The Dad Lab. I printed some clip-art of a mouth with teeth and slipped it in a dry erase pocket I purchased in the fall from Target. You could also laminate your picture if you prefer. I drew silly little faces on each of the teeth in advance and provided a toothbrush for brushing away the "food particles" and "germs." I demonstrated briefly and my son took right to it. He even wanted a chance to make his own doodles and have me brush the teeth all clean!

We had a lot of fun with these play centers and activities. My husband helped our son get ready for bed tonight and said he was still talking about brushing teeth when they actually brushed his teeth together! Let's hope his enthusiasm prevails next week at his visit to our dentist--which I am totally counting as a theme related field trip!

Until then, have a great weekend and Happy Playing!

Waterplay with plastic block "teeth" and toothbrushes
was a great conclusion to our dental health
theme. You can also do this activity right in the
bathtub for easier set-up/clean up!