Vet Office Dramatic Play

The Dr. David Suzuki veterinary office was a very busy place today as many of our animals seemed to be coming down with a cold! Sneezes and sniffling were heard all around! The children experienced great success organizing their dramatic play and engaging in identifiable and realistic roles today. Considering it was only the second day with this new centre, we were very impressed with their communication, collaboration, and commitment to the roles and the experience.

 

Today the children turned our reading area into the patient waiting area. Those who brought their animals kept them on leash and amused them while waiting to be called into the examination room.

We also had a receptionist desk where the children were able to phone for appointments and schedule a specific time to be seen by the doctor. We saw much authentic reading and writing as the children used literacy strategies to make their play more realistic.

Our doctors used the tools in the examination area to observe the pets symptoms and provide a diagnosis for the pet owners. Many children used the tweezers, magnifying glasses, bandages, stethescopes, and droppers to care for the animals. They showed kindness and compassion to the owners and ended the appointments with a suggestion for how to help the animal feel better. Many recorded their 'doctor's notes' on clipboards.

 

We watched a video to help us understand what happens at the vet. We reflected upon our own play and compared what we have done to the video. This discussion led to some rich reflection by our children on how they could proceed in their work in the centre to make it an even more enjoyable and realistic experience for everyone!

 

 

Families, we love home connections. If you or someone you know works in the medical profession and is interested in coming in to speak to our class, we would love to host you. It would be a very interesting experience for our children to meet a real health care provider and learn about this important job (e.g., learn how to care for people or animals, see a real uniform, learn what tools are used, see what the job involves). Thank you for your support of our children and program!