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Whoever said work isn’t fun?! These activities, inspired by Joan Heilbroner’s marvelous book “Robert the Rose Horse”, reinforce the notion that “Play is the work of childhood!” Explore countless opportunities to notice the important jobs and workers around you. Then, discover the ways that even the youngest among us can be workers too!

Get to Work!

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Get to Work!

Learning Objective Icon Social Emotional
Materials Icon: Household
Learning Objective Icon: Large Motor
Learning Objective Icon: Fine Motor
Image of a worker cutting pizza in a pizza restaurant to inspire these fun activities for kids to play.

Ready

  • Talk about the many jobs you see happening around you on a daily basis. 
  • Decide which job you would like to reenact in your play today. Some ideas for job play scenarios include:

    – Doctor’s office
    – Vet
    – Post Office
    – Airport
    – School
    – Restaurant/Deli
    – Construction
    – Library
    – Dentist
    – Caregiver
    – Grocery store
Image of kitchen tools hanging to inspire these fun pretend activities for kids.

Set

  • Gather materials and props from around the house to prepare for your job play. Think about all the little details that can make these experiences come to life.

    • For example, if you decide to recreate a restaurant, get set up with some art supplies to make menus & dress up like a waiter. Maybe you will even cook some real food together and invite someone to come to your restaurant (and pay for their meal! 😉)
Image of two children engaging in a fun play activity by using pretend kitchen tools and pretending to cook.

Play!

  • Let the dramatization begin! Have fun trying on these different roles and experiencing what it’s like to have a job. 
  • Feel free to switch up your career and set up a different job-play scenario.

Play your way! What else can you do with your materials?

Why Play This Way?

A lot of the work that happens around your little one goes unnoticed. These dramatic play opportunities will recreate familiar experiences and also empower your little one to take on the role of a “real worker,” thereby providing a new and fresh perspective.

Discover the book that
inspired this play

Read While You Play & Play While You Read

Image of the book cover, Robert the Rose Horse, by Joan Heilbroner, to inspire these fun activities for kids to play.

“Robert the Rose Horse”
by Joan Heilbroner

Book Summary

An allergy to roses causes Robert the Rose horse lots of problems until, to everyone’s surprise, his sneezes save the day.

Why We Love It

This playful book about a friendly horse who has to leave his family’s farm and head to the city to look for a job is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Through the use of repetitive and exaggerated humor, Heilbroner catalogs Robert’s plight of finding a job befitting a horse while also endearing the reader to Robert himself. As Robert’s havoc-wreaking sneezes approach, you will be able to anticipate the hilarious devastation caused by Robert’s unfortunate allergy to roses. This kind of humor not only lightens the spirit but also offers opportunities to make predictions within a story – a skill that is critical later on for a substantive understanding of literary plots. Above all, we love this book because we know that we can count on it to bring laughter and silliness into your home.

Learn & Play with

“Robert the Rose Horse” by Joan Heilbroner

Extension Activities

Choose your own adventure! Select any of the extension activities or resources below and see where your play takes you next. They are all inspired by the featured book to invite deeper connections to stories through play. 

Don’t have the book? No worries! All of our activities can be enjoyed with or without a book in hand.

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Whoever said work isn’t fun?! These activities, inspired by Joan Heilbroner’s marvelous book “Robert the Rose Horse”, reinforce the notion that “Play is the work of childhood!” Explore countless opportunities to notice the important jobs and workers around you. Then, discover the ways that even the youngest among us can be workers too!

Get to Work!

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Play ideas for all those times you need a little gentle, quiet fun. Reach for these activities whenever you are looking for ways to create a soothing environment or bring calm to your mind and body.

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This activity is pure magic.✨ Children will be filled with wonder as they prepare their special fairy houses and adults will be transported to the joy of being a child again.

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What’s black and white all over? This play activity! Invite your child to explore this amazing play that will inspire curiosity and ignite their inner designer. In experimenting and examining each object independent of its color your little one will engage more deeply with all of the other properties of the play materials they are using. Open-ended and easy to set up this original play is sure to be a winner for children of ALL ages.

What’s Black & White All Over?

keep playing

more fun activities

Whoever said work isn’t fun?! These activities, inspired by Joan Heilbroner’s marvelous book “Robert the Rose Horse”, reinforce the notion that “Play is the work of childhood!” Explore countless opportunities to notice the important jobs and workers around you. Then, discover the ways that even the youngest among us can be workers too!

Get to Work!

Splish, Splash I’m not takin’ a bath…I’m just playing with water! These activities are designed to delight your little one with all the sensory fun of water while also delivering the soothing social and emotional benefits inherent in this type of play. Discover ways to play with water in all kinds of places and with unexpected materials.

Test the Water

Make math time happy with these fun counting activities. #1: Create your own abacus. #2: Count and play all day! These activity ideas provide a playful introduction to counting and the many ways that we encounter and use math in everyday life.

Count on It

Roll on into fruit play! Have a blast experiencing fruit in new and hilarious ways that will get you moving and laughing. Get your muscles ready, but be prepared! These activities might make you hungry and ready to quickly transition from playing to eating!

Let the Fruit Times Roll

This game brings all the creative fun of printmaking to the sensory goodness of dough play and then adds a clever twist! You make the prints, and your friend guesses what you used to make them. But watch out…it’s simple to make a mark, but easy to be fooled when you are the guesser. When you’re done with the game, keep playing with The Dough Project’s super, all natural, dough.

Be a Dough-tective

Feeling big emotions is perfectly healthy. However, for young children, this can be scary because they feel and are out of control. This play, inspired by Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall, will give you new ideas for how to be brave even in the face of big challenges.

Bravery Breathing

Play ideas for all those times you need a little gentle, quiet fun. Reach for these activities whenever you are looking for ways to create a soothing environment or bring calm to your mind and body.

(Don’t) Bottle it Up

This activity is pure magic.✨ Children will be filled with wonder as they prepare their special fairy houses and adults will be transported to the joy of being a child again.

Build a Fairy House

You will be naturally drawn to this beautiful illuminated play. As soothing as it is exciting, your little one will be filled with wonder as they explore the many items that you place on your new favorite learning platform. We are so happy that you decided to put a spotlight on this magical play.

Light it Up!

What’s black and white all over? This play activity! Invite your child to explore this amazing play that will inspire curiosity and ignite their inner designer. In experimenting and examining each object independent of its color your little one will engage more deeply with all of the other properties of the play materials they are using. Open-ended and easy to set up this original play is sure to be a winner for children of ALL ages.

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