Need some activities for restaurant theme?

Question

for preschool, i will be working on this for three weeks

Answer 1

Bring in some plastic food and have he children make menus [[preschoolers maybe just have them draw meals that they would serve]] of the plastic foods.  Have them fake prepare it and serve it to others as well as have them pretend pay for it to learn about money and numbers.

Answer 2

Make Menues

Set up a resturant in housekeeping ( everyday can be a different TYPE of resutrant)

Have a plate & have the kids DRAW what they like to eat

Talk about healthy foods

Make pizzas w/ English muffins/Jello/

Answer 3

ooh this is a fun one. so many ways you can include this theme into all areas of learning.

to build off of what others have said:

*create a restaurant. have the children make a menu with their favorite foods. the kids can pick out the foods, the prices, the name of the restaurant, make the pictures for the menus. all you have to do is write their words down.

-have the kids 'create' the actual foods using various art forms: paint pictures, cut out pictures from magazines and make collages, draw pictures with crayons, use clay to build food sculptures, etc.

-create a restaurant in the dramatic play area. what directions do you need? how do the kids want to make it look like a restaurant? outfits for the wait staff? pictures on the wall? special music playing? what does the kitchen look like, etc.

-during dramatic play the wait person can have a clip board and small notebook to 'write' the orders down. at the end of the meal they can use a cash register to total it up and figure out how much the meal cost.

-people in the restaurant can dress accordingly (if it's fancy then suits, heels, dresses, etc.) and bring their money. they can count out how much they owe on the bill and how much tip they want to give their wait person.

-using their menu you can cook some of the recipes with them. if they're too complicated you can use more basic versions.

-for outdoor time you could have the kids all practice being wait staff and balance various items on their trays. how many blocks/plastic cups/plastic bowls can they carry? create an obstacle course for them to walk over, around, and through while trying to balance their tray.

-for a field trip see if a local restaurant will let you tour their kitchen before business starts. the kids can see the equipment, talk to the staff about working their, and look over more menus.

-if you want to create a theme to your restaurant try different books: green eggs and ham, on top of spaghetti, growing vegetable soup, etc.

-for a parent/family meeting do a potluck of each child's favorite foods off the menu. the parents can sit in the 'restaurant' while the children wait on them, create their plates, write up their receipt, etc.

Answer 4

Have the children talk about what type of food they like and see if the parents will bring in a family recipe.  Most schools have a vast cultural background and there will probably be a variety of foods.  ie Polish food was a staple where I grew up in Detroit, so I would give my daughter a pierogi recipe.  If you have a budget that will allow it, you can make or buy some of the foods for the children to try.  They could even vote on it.

You can also make a class recipe book with the "restaurant's" name on the cover.

You could bring in simple recipes with simple ingredients and have the children make the food.  ie sandwiches, rice krispie treats, brownies, jell-o/pudding.  My daughter has a recipe book that color-coordinates with the measuring cups/spoons.  The blue cup is 1 cup, the blue spoon is 1 tablespoon, the green cup is 1/2 cup, etc.  You can tie it in with a math lesson.

Another idea: I know many children who enjoy watching the Food Network TV. If the majority of the students in your class does, you can have them role-play their favorite chef.

For the science part, I recently saw an episode on Mythbusters about putting Mentos into a 2 liter Coke bottle. The results were fun. Also, vinegar and baking soda have the same effect.

Answer 5

Bring in some packaging from Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Arby's, etc.  Even before children can read, they can recognize these logos and begin understanding the importance of the printed word.

Get two of each of the above items.  Cut out the symbols and mount them to 3 x 5 cards.  Mix them up and play a matching game.

Talk about the colors of different foods.  Talk about where different foods come from (although be careful with hamburger, chicken, etc.  These discussions can be upsetting to some children.  Farm kids might be okay, others - maybe not!  :-)  )  

Talk about restaurant manners - another good thing to practice in housekeeping.  Napkins on laps, no finger food, no talking with your mouth full, etc.

At snack time, allow the children to "wait" on each other.  They can order the number of carrot sticks they like and choose between juice and water.

Make play money.  Let them practice paying and receiving change.  Some of your fours and fives might even be able to do a little math.  If something costs $4 and someone gives you $5, how much change do they get back?

Bring in menus from Chinese and Mexican restaurants to expose the children to foods from different cultures.  Maybe even bring in some Chinese or Mexican food for snack one day as a choice.