Pretend Play Makes Real Life Fun!
Pretend play comes in many different forms—from cooking in a realistic toy kitchen to dressing up like a pirate. It’s also imaginative, educational, and big fun!
Kids Love Pretend Play!
No matter the age, every child loves pretend play! Whether acting out real-life scenarios (like cooking plastic dinners in a KidKraft Play Kitchen) or putting on fun magic shows for their little friends with the World's Greatest Magic Show kit, kids love to pretend and will spend untold hours engaging in this highly imaginative form of play throughout their childhoods.
Luckily for them, Best Buy has many different types of pretend play toys—everything from toy cleaning supply sets to wooden pizza pies that kids can assemble like puzzles. There’s also toy sporting equipment (so they can fancy themselves an athlete and act out their sporting fantasies), tea party sets (so they can serve their friends and engage in social play), puppets (to talk to and interact with), and even role-playing costumes (like cool cowboy outfits that will have them feeling just like Marshall Dillion). There are even pretend play accessories, like pots and pans and plastic food items for those fun kitchen sets.
The Importance of Pretend Play
Did you know that pretend play can be both imaginative and educational? One of the great benefits of pretend play is that it can teach important life lessons while also developing kids’ creativity. For instance, when a child plays in a pretend play kitchen, they take their cues about how to play from what they see their parents doing. In this way, kids can learn the importance of the appliances in their kitchens, the names of the different foods and ingredients used in cooking (often even developing their own horrifying recipes), and even the value of cleanup (like doing the dishes) when it’s time to put their kitchens away. Many kids will even want to help their parents in the real kitchen to show how grown up and helpful they’re becoming.
Similarly, playing with a science lab set can exercise and develop the mind as kids try to come up with their own unique experiments—just like real scientists. In the case of role-playing toys, children have the opportunity to enter into and engage imaginatively with the fantasy world of their choosing. For example, kids that love Star Wars are free to become Jedi Masters and practice the ways of the Force with their little Sith friends. If magic is their thing, perhaps they’ll see themselves as the next David Copperfield, performing amazing illusions before stunned crowds in vast theatres.
How Will Your Child Pretend Play?
When choosing the ideal pretend play toy(s) for your child, there are only a few things to remember. The first is that pretend play items, just like most other toys, come with age recommendations to help you figure out what ages they’re best suited to. Something like a pretend play kitchen or grocery store is usually intended for kids ages 3 and up, so the very beginning of the pretend play spectrum. Something a bit more complex, like a magic show set, might start out at ages 8 and up as it requires a higher level of thinking and understanding to learn and be able to perform all of the different tricks. Finally, it’s important to know your child’s tastes and what they are most likely to enjoy. Some kids are really into science; others couldn’t care less. Buying a science set for a child with no interest whatsoever in scientific pursuits may not be a great choice.