7 Things You Need to Make a Dramatic Play Laundromat

Setting up a laundromat in your dramatic play is fun.

Kids love to play pretend. It's fun for them in every way. They also enjoy playing and learning new activities. Laundry is an activity that kids will enjoy learning both at home and in school.

At home, many children watch their families do chores around the house. In fact, children can be so eager to help with these chores. As a result, many families let them help. Doing laundry is one of those chores.

That is why turning your dramatic play into a laundromat is a great topic for your students to learn about. They will enjoy sorting, washing, folding, and ironing. There are very many activities to do and lots of fun to have. My dramatic play laundromat resource can prove it.

In this blog, you will learn more about this resource. As well as the seven things that make a dramatic play Laundromat day a success. Let's get started.

1. Laundry Props and materials

Props and materials will make your students use dramatic play like a Laundromat. Without a doubt! These props and materials have to be creative. They also have to inspire your students to use their imagination. So when your students enter this play area, they should know that it's time to wash clothes.

That’s where pretend play props and materials come in. Of course, all props and materials should be safe for your learners. For sure! In my download, I have a list of props and materials that you can use to set up your laundromat dramatic play.

Make sure these props are within the reach and eye level of your students. It will keep them safe, and they will not need to climb things to get what they want.

Your dramatic play should have props that lead to learning activities. Props like clean clothes, empty clean detergent bottles, and laundry baskets, for example. Those kinds of props support the process of learning how to wash clothes. And folding too.

 One way of making the most use for your props is by using props that mimic laundry use. For example, you can make iron out of a block. You do this by taking a picture of an iron and taping it onto a block. That way, your students can pretend to iron clothes after they practiced washing them.

Physical, social and cognitive skills

Also, keep in mind to focus on getting materials that develop physical, social, and cognitive skills.

When it comes to learning physically in dramatic play...

Props help your students build fine motor strength.

Props help your students build fine motor strength. They can practice these fine motor skills in many ways. It's true. Folding clothes. Emptying pockets. Unbuttoning or unzipping laundry. Not to mention pretending to spray stains off with spray bottles. These are a few examples of how students can build this skill.

Dramatic play is all about social skills. This is where students learn how to share props and talk to others. Especially when playing in a group. Surely!

Pretend play props encourages your students to use language and become social. Preschoolers practice using their words to describe these props to their friends. They also like to talk about how they plan to use them for cleaning.

Your students will learn how to express what they want to each other. They will also like to ask you, the teacher questions about props and laundry. This helps increase their vocabulary. It also helps them see the connection between the name of the prop and its use.

Then there are cognitive skills. Your students can learn about stains. They can also learn about separating and sorting clothes by their colors. And how to wash them. So many ideas to choose and learn from through play.

2. Laundromat Dramatic Play Center Decor

Setting up your dramatic play area to look like a Laundromat should be the goal. This play area should get kids excited about doing laundry. One way to do this is by using your furniture for laundry use.

For example, I wrapped the backside of a furniture shelf with aluminum foil. Then I asked my students to help me make a circular door out of cardboard. Next, I attached it to the shelf to make it look like a laundry machine and dryer. Once I did this, my students knew that the theme of this dramatic play area was a laundromat.

A bulletin board display is another way to let kids know they are in this pretend play area to do laundry.

The way you display your laundromat in your classroom is important. You can make it fun by having shelves, plastic containers, hang lines, and baskets. For more tips, download this laundromat dramatic play resource. It's filled with ideas and images on how I set up my own dramatic play laundromat.

You can also visit your local Laundromat for more inspiration on how to set up.

3. Signs about Laundry

You can find many signs inside real laundromats. Why not copy them for pretend play? Signs like "Open" and "Closed" will help your students understand when it is time to play in your dramatic play. They can also make the connection of how real laundromats have opening and closing times. Just like the dramatic play.

Signs help your kids see the use of certain areas inside the dramatic play. In my download, I added a “sitting area” and “clothesline” vocab picture signs. These signs help my students realize the use of chairs, clothesline, and clothespins. I'm sure this can help your students out too.

Signs help the children understand the purpose of reading and writing. This is great for building literacy skills. In this theme, you can find signs all around this pretend play area. You can even find them on pretend props, such as stain removal spray.

Signs help a lot in bringing up students' memories. They help them recall past experiences. This gives your preschoolers a chance to talk about their experiences doing laundry.

Placing signs in this dramatic play area is a great idea. They even help give students rules and directions. Kids often follow signs. It's like having an extra teacher. Signs show kids how important print is. That is why picture learning is fun and helpful for your students.

4. Printable Labels in Your Dramatic Play Laundromat

Labels are meaningful. They are print that makes your students connect items with their names. Your students will use the labels to talk about what they want. Place labels on every item on display.

Notice how the labels that I created are clear for students to see and read. For access to these labels, visit and download this resource at the Pre-K  Let's Play store.

Your students should learn to make the connection between image and print. Labels can help with that. Doing this helps them become very confident and open to playing and learning.

Labels make learning fun. They also help students develop writing skills. In my resource, I also included picture labels without words. With your help as a teacher, you can use those labels to encourage your students to write in the words. Students love this because it’s their handwriting placed throughout the play area. They love to see that. This also makes them feel important and responsible for helping you.

Labels are also useful because they teach students how to organize. Put things back where they belong. Labels work as a guide to help your students practice self-cleaning skills. It’s like learning responsibility in a fun way. Besides, cleaning makes many students feel grown-up. We all know preschoolers love that.

5. Laundry Printouts in your Dramatic Play Laundromat

Printouts have a lot of benefits in pretend play. They help your students practice their writing and fine motor skills. Printouts also give children a sense of responsibility in a guided way. In this case, their role and job is to wash clothes for pretend play.

In this instance, the kind of printout to use should relate to the Laundromat theme. That is why I offer a laundry list printout. Students use this printout to write their names. It is also used to count and write the number of clothes they plan to wash.

6. Books in Your Dramatic Play Laundromat

So learning without books is almost unheard of. Books can add a great touch to this pretend laundromat. You can use books that instruct how to wash. I have created and included books that focus on the steps people take when washing clothes. I also included different ways people wash their clothes all over the world. You can find these books in this download too.

You can provide young learners with different books and magazines. This is great to do as they wait for their clothes to wash.

If you can find books related to laundry or cleaning, then that's awesome. Great! If you can't, then that's ok too. It is. Placing different kinds of reading material is perfect for your students. It increases their imagination. It also makes doing laundry look as natural as possible. Certainly!

From books to magazines to pamphlets. It is a great opportunity to encourage your students to read and recognize print and letters.

7. Download This Laundromat Dramatic Play Resource

Now you understand how dramatic play Laundromat works. I hope this inspired you to set up your own version in your classroom.

There are many other ideas of a Laundromat that you can create. Yet, coming up with ideas, props, signs, printables, and labels can be a problem. That's because it does take time. Doing all this at once can be overwhelming. From one teacher to another, I definitely understand. So why not save time and get access to all these and more? How?

Well, I want to let you know that this is possible. All you have to do is Teachers Pay Teachers store. Download this Dramatic Play Laundromat resource. I created this resource and still use it in my classroom. This download is quite helpful in giving you ideas for a creative and fun dramatic play setup. You will find real images and ideas of the activities that you can do with your students too. Enjoy and have fun teaching through play!