It’s the day after Valentines Day, but the love hasn’t ended yet! With all the chocolates being consumed, its the perfect opportunity to save those sweet chocolate containers and hand them down to your little creatives to play Chocolate Shop! Since it’s so close to Presidents Day why not play with real money to help your child learn the Presidents. Check out the easy how to’s and tips below.

Chocolate Shop Supplies:

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• Left Over Chocolate Box – Use whatever you have. If you don’t have a left over chocolate box you can also use an ice tray.
• Pretend Chocolates  – I love using pom poms, they’re easy to clean up and not too messy. You can use anything you have on hand though, lego’s, blocks, beads or even playdoh.
• Foil Liners  – If you want to take it a step further, get some little foil liners for your creatives to put their pretend chocolates in. It adds that lovely tactile feeling of actual chocolates. They can usually be found in most grocery stores, I found some at the dollar store.

Set It Up:

1. THE SHOP If you can, set up a counter top type area, kids LOVE to be behind counters or tables.

TIP: Try putting 2 little tables corner to corner to create a half boxed in area, something like the picture above, it adds a little extra counter space which my creatives love!

2. THE CHOCOLATES set up the chocolate box, a bowl with the pretend chocolates (pom poms etc) in it, and if you have them, the foil liners.

3. PLAY! Time to play! Give your chocolate shop a name, then pay a visit and put in your order, you can even use pretend money if you want. Do try and get in on the chocolate shop action with your child, they’ll appreciate the one on one time with you, trust me, it’s worth it!

DISCUSS: for little creatives this is a great exercise to practice counting, or grouping colors and types. For the older ones its a great opportunity to practice learning the value of money and giving change.

Do Tell: Leave a comment below

• What did you use for your chocolates
• What other things did you discover playing this game