The Grocery Store Project

by Paddi Towne
In a Day Care Centre, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Age Group – 4 & 5 year olds

Preliminary planning

At the very beginning of the project on the Grocery Store, as part of my own preparation for the project, I brainstormed my ideas and key words into a topic web. I made a list of concerns I had with regards to children and the goals I had set out. I wrote a letter home to the parents explaining briefly the Project Approach as well as my goals for the children. I gathered any resource materials I could find and investigated the community for field work sites (Safeway, Save On Foods, etc.) 

Phase One

I chose a book to share with the children to begin the project: Robert Munsch’s Something Good. The children them spent some time sharing their experiences through talking, drawing and construction. We sent the letter home to the parents on the first day.

We formulated some questions based on what we already knew about grocery stores. We made a list of these questions to display on our bulletin board along with some drawings and paintings of our experiences. 

The children did some practice field work so that we would be prepared for our field trip to Safeway. They practiced asking questions with their friends as well as other teachers in the centre. We also practiced making field notes around the day care centre.

Phase Two

We began the second phase of the work by going out to our local Safeway Store for a tour. I made arrangements for the manager to give the tour, but he was unable to meet with us on the day. Our stand-in was fairly good although she was not able to answer all of our questions. (We need as teachers to be flexible and prepared for the unexpected). We came back to the centre and improved our field notes by trying to pay attention to details and finishing any drawings that needed a little more work. The enthusiasm was great!

A small group of children decided that they could build some of the equipment that they had seen at the store. Over the next few days we had a shopping cart constructed and re-constructed to make improvements. We also had a micro-wave oven constructed for the sample table.

As well as representing what we found out through drawings and construction, we made a book telling what job we would like to have if we worked at a Safeway Store. The children told me what to write and then they drew a picture to represent their ideas. We read several stories about different types of grocery stores (markets, wholesale places, and corner stores).

Phase 3

Our culminating event consisted primarily of role play. The children constructed a Grocery Store based on what they had learned. This included sorting skills, spatial set-up, writing and cooperation. We told the story of our project by playing in the store for two days. The children took turns at playing the different roles (cashier, sample table person, baker, etc.).

The children really took ownership of their store. They kept it tidy and invited children from other rooms to come shopping in their store. This was a little hectic at times but worth the experience. The children made signs for their store out of various materials as well as setting up each section according to the local Safeway. We practiced counting money and re-shelving products. Most importantly we learned to share, cooperate, listen and be creative! Who would have thought that by putting snow in the water table we would instantly have a frozen section!

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Last revised: March 12, 1997