JEWELRY STORE

Rainy days or cold days outside are the perfect days for pretend play! Today we created a Jewelry Store on our basement couch. It was simple, fun, and of course educational! Reviews letter and number identification, math (addition, dollar/cent recognition), practice writing, how a business works.

Materials:

• Handouts (see below)
• White paper
• Printer
• Poster board
• Cash register (optional) We love this one!
• Assortment of jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, tiaras)
• Dry erase marker
• Page protectors or laminate sheets
• Clip board (optional)
• calculator (optional)

To start we gathered all of the play jewelry we could find in the house. Then we decided what signs we needed. There are blank signs, so you have other options for items besides the ones we used.

Display:

How to display all of the jewelry? The couch seemed to be a great place to display it all. We folded poster board in half to display the necklaces on. We just placed all of the other jewelry on the couch except for the rings, which we put in a bowl. Of course, we had to add a few models in the store.

Cost (Math):

After all of the jewelry was set up. We printed all of the signs out and decided how much each item should cost. You can make it as simple as you want or hard. The numbers we chose are the dollar bills that came with our cash register. You could focus on dollars only or cents only or dollars and cents- depending on age/skill level. Our goal today was different dollar bill identification and simple math with calculator (cash register).

Checking out– there are two options for receipts. I put a page protector over them, so that they can be used multiple times. You could also print out multiple copies and use like real receipts. The large receipt is for smaller children, and the smaller (4 per page) receipt is for older kids. The box to the left is where you put the amount of each item. To help with pricing, I put a copy of the big receipt above the cash register to reference. We used the calculator on our cash register to figure out totals. If small bills, could be a great way to practice addition. Each time you play, you can change the cost amount to review more ways!

Let the fun begin!

We used little white baskets for the customers in the store (bought at DollarTree). Since it was only my daughter and me, we took turns playing customer and employee and also had some studded animals as customers. This is also a great activity to do with a group of kids and they can take turns playing different roles. The best part about this activity is that it can be great for multiple ages- can be made harder or easier by cost of jewelry.

Before & After- Customers checking out & then happy stylish customers!