My hubby and I are coffee people.
We don’t like bad coffee. We’re particular about what we drink and how we drink it.
For instance, a great, rich, dark cup of hot and manually pressed coffee must be imbibed just a notch below scorching and totally black.
But our Starbucks cold drink addictions? Those vary…
For me, it’s a “Venti Iced Skinny Mocha, normal syrup, no whip.”
For my hubby, it’s a “Venti Salted Caramel Frappuccino, extra ice, double-blended with extra salt.”
And for our kids?
Our 5 year old daughter likes to order a “Small Extra White Iced Drink” which is actually a Tall Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, extra ice, double-blended, no-whip.
Our 3-year old son?
I do not joke.
He orders his own drink and he yells through the window at the drive-through every time, “ONE KID’S HOT COCOA WITH ONE ICE CUBE, PLEEAAATHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
The staff is always great and asks his name so that he can see it printed boldly on the side of his own beverage.
When it arrives, he shakes it for jiggling proof that an ice cube has been placed inside as directed.
He crosses his legs when he drinks it and looks like a little Batman-scholar in his car seat as he sips his personalized drink.
So, it makes perfect sense that we would do some Starbucks Barista Pretend Play in our home, doesn’t it?
We’ve been on vacation and had limited toys and space to work with.
The kids and I discussed doing a “Coffee Shop Barista Pretend Play” activity.
This gave us a chance to talk about re-using things that we might recycle or throw away if we didn’t re-use them.
We began saving some of the things we received on our coffee shop trips: drink stirrers, sleeves, treat bags, and napkins.
We put the items in a shoe box and picked up a couple of dollar-store black foam visors.
(We already had black aprons but making some out of paper bags would have been pretty easy, too).
One day, once we’d accumulated enough things, our daughter brought down the box and set up the little folding Korean table.
She put on her apron and her visor.
The kids were playing Starbucks!
I hadn’t saved any of the coffee cups from the cafe house, but we did have some Starbucks Keurig cups on hand for the kids to pretend to order.
A couple of weeks before they played, the kids had made pretend “treats” out of crystal light-scented play dough we made.
We used a popsicle maker to shape the strawberries and then we just let them dry out until they were hard.
Our son ordered his treats and our little Barista served them up in a treat bag!
What really surprised me was how creative the kids were in their pretend play.
Our daughter wanted to pretend she was making a drink for her brother, so she asked for a plastic cup.
And, then she used the refrigerator water dispenser to pretend she was brewing coffee, pushing buttons to activate the machine and everything!
It just shows the many other uses for red solo cups! (Click here for another use we’ve come up with for them!)
And, finally- our daughter blew my mind with her solution to giving her brother the cake pop he demanded and paid exactly 14 buttons for:
A taped-on button atop a coffee stirrer.
I couldn’t believe it. How cool is that?
Yet again, the kids surprised me.
Here we are on vacation with hardly any traditional toys or space.
I had a small idea to re-use some stuff and the kids completely transformed the experience into a very fun and highly creative activity.
We’re holding on to that shoebox of Starbucks stuff.
It is good training for when the kids are old enough to learn how to make some of that good freshly pressed coffee their daddy and I like so much. :)
HOW DO YOU DRINK YOUR COFFEE?
DO YOUR KIDS HAVE A FAVE BEVERAGE THEY LIKE TO ORDER AT PLACES?
I like my coffee French pressed, strong, and with milk and sugar
Tallya- Another french presser! Good lady!
You HAVE to send this to Starbucks! They wil LOVE it!!
I might just do that, Lisa! When you come over, the kids can play Starbucks, too!
My kids love to play Starbucks when we travel and stay in hotels. They run around the room taking our order and then serving us with the plastic cups in the room. An active imagination is a Wonderful thing!
Carey- I bet your kids are just the cutest. I wish we could see them!
I would like a private, confidential lesson in ordering these extra-special, unknown to the commoner drinks. How is one supposed to acquire this knowledge of extra ice, double-blending, and all that? Tricia, what is normal syrup??! You mean the one I get is not normal? It took me forever and a day to be the last one to find out what all the non-menu listed “styles” of burgers you could get at In N’ Out. Help me out here.
Oh, to answer your question: I take my iced coffee black with one Sugar in the Raw packet that doesn’t dissolve, but waits for me as a crunchy treat at the bottom of the cup, and my hot coffee black or with soy milk.
And btw, your daughter is growing up so much! She looks like a full-fledged kid!
Chrissy- Haha! The reason for the normal syrup is that when you order something “nonfat” with skim milk instead of the 2%, they normally will also put in sugar-free syrup which I don’t like! I like the nonfat but the full sugar.
Also, the extra ice double-blending is a way to keep an iced drink iced longer- If you have, say, 20 minutes to get home to give your hubby his frappuccino- a normal frap will melt by the time you get home- But, with extra ice and double-blended, it’s smooth as one with less ice and lasts longer! 
My head is spinning
Chrssy, haha! this is just another reason to hoard recyclables and red solo cups!
Love this. My kids live in a childcare business, and in the last year or so they have shown absolutely no interest in structured activities of any kind. Part of it, I’m sure, is that they want some separation between the time I spend working at home and the time that belongs to us. But I think part of it is that they’re getting older. At 4 and 6 they have their own stuff planned and prefer to wow me with their independence and imagination. Which basically means I’m not allowed to set stuff up for them, anymore. I miss it!
Desi- I bet the dynamic of child play and family time changes when you run a home daycare! I think it’s cool that they reject structured play- it means that your kids are already very free thinkers!
Like their mama! 
You are the McGyver of playtime!!!! I love your uses for red solo cups
Stephanie- haha! That’s the best compliment ever! And you are the McGyver of cookies, for sure!
Seeing that Starbuck’s prices are out of my coffee-budget league, I have to “pretend play” that I’m there when it’s actually the local bodega – and thanks to your kids, I have some wonderful ideas to spruce THAT up.
You’re quite the re-using genius! Bet you could find fun things to re-use in a crypt!
Nami- Starbucks does add up quickly!!!! And a crypt? Well, there are many crafty uses for gauze.
Very cute! I think the K-cups make perfect little pretend beverages! I’ll be über impressed when your children are walking through the steps of a hot coffee tasting! LOL (smell, slurp, locate in the mouth, describe). Very nice black aprons too – It makes me think they’re coffee masters already!! (The Starbucks black aprons designate Coffee Masters).
Love it!
(Btw, and I apologize hugely because I know it’s not kosher to mention one’s own blog in a comment – but I’ve got a giveaway going on my little website for an official Starbucks iPhone cover, if you’re interested – Just google “StarbucksMelody” – I understand if you delete this part!)
~Melody
No worries on the mention- I think it’s great- I’ll plug your give-away tomorrow on my FB page.
Thank you for the comment and will check out your site!