Pretend Play: Working at an Amazon Fulfillment Center

The doorbell rings.  My kids immediately say, “Did we get a package?”  Their little minds have associated the doorbell ringing with a package being delivered.  Yes, we do gets lots of packages delivered to our house each week and they are often from one place- Amazon.

When I found out that this week’s Early Childhood Education Team’s #TeachECE theme was pretend play, I immediately thought of doing an Amazon Fulfillment Center.

We found ways to pack lots of literacy play as well as math into our set-up.

Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

To inspire us to set up our Amazon Fulfillment Center we watched this quick one minute video showing how a teddy bear gets processed at the center.

You can buy socks, curtains and even a [easyazon_link identifier=”B00465S1ZG” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]santa toliet seat cover and rug set[/easyazon_link] (it is rated #1 toliet tank covers) on Amazon.  But, we usually buy BOOKS so that is what we used for our pretend play.

Set-Up

We placed our stock (aka books) on a shelf.

Then, we found a small bin that would be used to collect orders.

Our packing and shipping station consisted of empty boxes, [easyazon_link identifier=”B00V5IM5PY” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]a scale[/easyazon_link], a cell phone, crayons and [easyazon_link identifier=”B00004Z5SB” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]mailing labels[/easyazon_link].

We also included an “address” sheet for the kids to copy names on [easyazon_link identifier=”B00004Z5SB” locale=”US” tag=”groboobyboo-20″]mailing labels[/easyazon_link].  If your child can handle more writing, you could also include the full address to copy.

Creating Orders

Create orders by cutting out book cover images and and attaching them to an order form.  We actually created a PowerPoint for our orders to conserve paper.  The technology piece made it even more authentic.

Another option for the order forms would be to write down requests and have the children find the best fit.  Here are a few examples to get you started.

a funny book

a book that takes place outside

a non-fiction book

a good book to read at bedtime

Turn it in to a phonological awareness activity with this third option.  Place a picture of a word that rhymes with a household or classroom object. The kids will then find an object that rhymes with the word.

Get the blank order forms to use in your pretend play.  I’ve also included a few rhyming forms too.

DOWNLOAD ORDER FORMS HERE

Time To Play

One table held the orders (paper or on the computer), labels, crayon and address sheet.  The kids take turns sitting at the table waiting for an order.

Time to collect the order.  Retrieve the books and place in the small bin.

Head to the packing table and scan the books with the phone.  I put the phone on camera and let the kids “scan” (take a picture) of each barcode.

Place the books in a box and weigh.

Time to decide where to ship the order.  Fill out the mailing label and attach to the box.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.  My kids even rang the doorbell and delivered them to our front door!

Time to see what other pretend play ideas the Early Childhood Education Team came up with this week!   And, don’t miss Colleen’s Raising Creative Kids: A Collection of Creativity Prompts for Children.  It is packed with ideas!

Bakery Pretend Play Printables for Counting by Life Over C’s
Pretend Play in Preschool: How to be a Scientist! by The Preschool Toolbox Blog
Pretend Play Fishing Alphabet Activity by Mom Inspired Life
Detective Pretend Play by Capri + 3
Farmer’s Market Preschool Theme Pretend Play by Learning 2 Walk
Exploring Numbers 0-10 Pretend Garden Meal by Tiny Tots Adventures
DIY Farm Pretend Play Mat by The Educators’ Spin On It

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