Cobblers shoemaker shop - Silkysteps - Early learning resources and childcare activities for Preschool, home and Children's early years play

Role play ideas for nursery, preschool, school and home.

Shoe ~ Cobbler’s Shop
Cobblers hand tools - shoe design, manufacture and sales ..
If your Preschool topic includes the opportunity to have a Shoe/cobbler’s shop in your role play area here are a few ideas and suggestions along with some printable resources you can use to make the role play more realistic for your children.

There are a great many learning opportunities that surround a role play scenario, you will find we have included a few of these under the individual headings.
Download the PDF
Your Shop

Have you an existing role play frame/wooden house that will serve as an enclosed area to have your shop? Other possibilities to create a shop area are...

Borrow/buy a large tent for the purpose.
Purchase an open topped wooden play house.
Cordon off a corner of your room with rope and then drape sheets over the rope to form ‘walls’ leave a space for the door.
Put out an SOS for large cardboard boxes. Cut these open and paint to resemble the exterior of the shop you are planning for. Prop the boards up into your allocated shop area.

Try to recreate as many physical elements of the real shop in your own role play one. Authenticity is very important when teaching our children how things operate, smell and look.

Items you could include

Open and Closed sign

Opening times notice

Posters made up in advance and featuring products that are associated with your shop theme.

Telephone and computer keyboard for the children to take orders!

Shopping list paper and pencils

Till & Money

Hammers

Tacs/ large nails

Pre drilled wood for the nails to be hammered into.

Shoe horns

Shoe laces

Shoe cleaning wax and brushes + soft cloths

Foot measuring device – does your local shoe have an discarded or one that they could loan you to size the children’s feet?

Selection of old shoes to sell or repair – Boots, plimsolls, pumps, slippers, trainers/running shoes, high heels, sandals, flip flops, ballerina shoes, Wellington boots.

Small chair or stool for shoe trying!

Shoe Lace Template

Practice shoe lace tying by using this template.

Have several around for the children to have a go at playing with the laces as they wish.

Print onto heavy card and cut out.

Punch out the small black circles and cut the T line

Thread a lace through the holes.

Shoe Template

Polishing

It’s always good to know how to look after our shoes!

Show the children how to polish and shine leather/patent shoes.

Brush up suede or other fabric comb out fluffy material on slippers etc. This shows them how to look after and take pride in the appearance of their footwear.

Foot prints!

Use paint to take footprints of the childs actual foot.

Paint the soles of old shoes and print off onto paper – what patterns are there?

Shoe Fastenings

What fastenings do the children have? Laces, poppers, buttons, Velcro?

Make a chart in the shape of a shoe and mark on how many children have each one.

What is the most popular? Which do the children think is the easiest to do?

How many can tie their laces into bows?

Visit Stitch Squirrels page for a downloadable rhyme on tying shoe laces.

Decorate a Shoe

Let the imagination run riot with collage materials and old shoes!

Plant some daffodil/ tulip bulbs in a pair of old boots or wellies or even some potatoes … harvest and eat a few months late

Getting things together

If you wish to ask your parents/members to help with providing some of the resources for the shop use this letter to request help. To save on paper – pin the letter to your notice board and make everyone aware of it.

***************************

Dear Parents/ Carers

Our topic will soon be focusing on…………………
We are going to include a ………………………… shop in the role play area and would love to have you join in this fun activity by helping us to provide a few items for the shop.

Please write your name next to the item you can loan or donate to us.

All donations need to be in on _______________________date

Thank you

Please label anything you wish us to return to you.

-ITEM-----------------QTY--------NAME------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coins

Use our Silkysteps currency to help your shop go with a swing.

Click on the coins link

Print the coins.

Cut them all out.

Glue a front and back together.

Laminate or sticky back plastic.

Cut out again.

Click here for Silkysteps COINS

If you’ve created an imaginative role play area and would like to share your ideas/photos with other educators …we would love to hear from you.

Silky@silkysteps.com

Click to go back to Errol's Role play and theme sets main page ..