Kids who love to pretend need top toys to let their fantasies really come to life. Whether girls want to bake in the kitchen like mom, or boys want to work in a woodshop like dad, there’s something for everyone. Surprise them with a few really great toys this season.
Best Pretend Play Toys
 |
Kitchen KidKraft Large Kitchen: Girls who want to be like mom and have their own kitchen will love the KidKraft kitchen. It’s just her size, done in pretty colors, and with all sorts of functional items. The doors to the refrigerator, freezer, oven, and dishwasher all open so kids can imagine taking out food, cooking it up, and washing the dishes afterward. It also has fun accessories like a phone, potholder, spatula, mixing spoon, and even a clock that lets them choose the time. Multiple children can play, making it the ideal choice for kids who want to play house. |
 |
Food Melissa and Doug Pretend Play Food: Melissa & Doug make excellent toys, and their play food will provide kids with all sorts of fun. Parents may even see some of the pieces and get hungry. Felt foods are soft and fun. Kids can make sandwiches with the sandwich set, complete with bread, meats, lettuce, tomato slices, pickles, and more. Or perhaps dessert is more desirable? Treat towers, felt cookie sets, cupcake sets with decorative icing markers, cakes, pizzas, and all sorts of great food sets await kids who want to go on picnics in the backyard, have a bakery, and more. And the best part? Easy clean up. |
 |
Vacuum Dirt Devil Junior: Sometimes the best toys are the most unexpected ones. While mom or dad does the real cleaning, kids can feel like they’re helping as they run around with their very own Dirt Devil Junior vacuum. This bright red vacuum looks just like the real thing. It includes realistic lights as well as realistic vacuum sounds. It’s a fine addition for kids who love to play house, and perhaps even learn a bit about real house chores in the process. But for now, they’ll just enjoy cleaning up imaginary messes with their vacuum. Made for ages 3 and up, it’s a toy that they can play with for many years. |
 |
Shopping Cart Little Tikes Shopping Cart: Is it time to go shopping? It can be shopping day any day with this cart made just his size. Made with real shopping carts in mind, the Little Tikes is crafted from study plastic to make sure that it can handle any shopping excursions that get a bit exciting. The strong walls of the deep basket keep all his items safely tucked away. It even has a place to put items underneath the basket – just like the carts that mom and dad use. A fold down top is the perfect place for a favorite toy to get a front row seat. |
 |
Cash Register Teaching Cash Register: If one child has a pretend shopping cart, then another needs a cash register to ring everything up! This isn’t just a calculator for them to type into. This register actually features 4 different games they can play that help them learn addition, subtraction, and more. Kids also get a chance to learn about money; the register holds actual size play money and includes bills and play coins. The register includes a built-in scanner, a scale, and even a coin slot. Kids can ring things up and listen to the fun sounds it makes and lights that blink. |
 |
Mailbox Melissa and Doug Stamp and Sort Mailbox: Kids who love to get mail and send mail will be absolutely delighted to see their very own mailbox in their playroom. Not only do children get a bright blue mailbox that has three slots for sorting letters by size, they also get letters with removable stamps to put inside. Kids can stamp, sort, and then retrieve mail using their key. The wooden key opens the back where kids can get everything and start all over again. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself the receiver of some mail one day. |
 |
Workshop Step2 Real Projects Workshop: The first word out of his mouth when he sees this workshop will be, “Yay!” That is, if he’s not screaming with delight. The best toys let kids have all sorts of fun in many different ways. He gets to play with a realistic wood project bench with so many accessories, he may not even be able to count them all. An amazing 65 pieces will have him busy for hours. He can drill, screw, hammer, saw, and even play with blueprints! The “wood” pieces can also be assembled into numerous items that he can play with later, from cars to rockets. |
 |
School Learning Resources School Set: Ready to go to school? Learning Resources has created a mini schoolhouse that is perfect for a bit of teaching and a lot of fun. It opens up to reveal a dry-erase board for writing, math, and anything kids want to imagine learning about. But naturally someone has to be the teacher, and someone else the student. That’s why it also comes with a gradebook, stickers, hall passes, a clock and bell, handpointer, crayons, and much more for kids to play with. The tri-fold board design makes cleanup and storage easy. Made for ages 3 and up. |
 |
Princess Dress Up Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk: There is absolutely nothing like pretending to be a princess. And what better way to do that than to get a whole trunk full of Disney princess costumes? The trunk is decorated with all the Disney princesses, and within girls will find costumes from all their favorite princesses. The costumes come in pieces, so kids will get 4 shirts and 3 skirts. But they’ll also get all the royal accessories that come with them! Headbands, tiaras, necklaces, rings, bracelets, and even earrings. She’ll feel like a princess when she steps into one of these pretty outfits. |
 |
Doctor Learning Resources Doctor Set: Time to play doctor – with all the right goodies! After all, kids can’t really be a doctor if they don’t have the equipment. Learning Resources provides them with everything they need, from the iconic stethoscope to forceps and more. All the typical tools found in a doctor’s office can be found here in excellent play form. It even includes a cell phone so the doctor can take a few calls while on call! It’s also a great way to help ease fears about going to the doctor. After all, what’s scary about the doctor when you can be the doctor? |
 |
Money Melissa and Doug Play Money Set: Melissa & Doug make some of the top toys around. Now kids can learn how to use money while they play with it! Children get fifty of each denomination, from $100 bills to pennies! Each bill and coin has its own place in the wooden storage drawer – or cash box if kids prefer to call it. Each compartment in the drawer has an image of the denomination on the bottom so clean up has never been easier. Kids will know exactly where each piece of money goes. Whether kids are pretending to shop or just learning to count, it’s an excellent set. |
 |
Washer Educational Insights Washing Machine: Dirty clothes? No problem! After a day of working in construction (also known as the sand box) or the bakery, things that need a bit of washing can be tossed into this washing machine. While it won’t actually clean anything, kids will have a grand time pretending. That’s because this machine comes with real sloshing water, a spinning tub, and realistic sounds. They can pretend to put detergent in the pull-out detergent dispenser, and load up the machine through the front opening door. It has wash, rinse, and spin cycles with just the push of a button! |
 |
Hair Salon Melissa and Doug Hairdresser: Girls who love to play with hair will be thrilled to have their very own hair stylist outfit and accessories. They’ll have a great time pretending to style up hair in all sorts of fun ways, using their goodies to get their desired imaginary results. They’ll have their very own (washable!) smock, a name card they can personalize, comb, brush, scissors, and even a hair dryer! The hair dryer sounds real, but the scissors don’t cut, so parents don’t have to worry about any unexpected real hair cuts! There’s also a mirror for everyone to see their new do! |
 |
Cookware Small World Young Chef Cookware Set: For kids ready to do some cooking on their own, the Young Chef Cookware Set is ready to assist them. They get all the good that mom and dad have – maybe even a few they don’t! From stockpots to spoons and ladles, frying pans and skimmers. The set does not include food, so once kids have the utensils, find out what they want to cook and grab some pretend food so they can really get cooking. As they play, who knows? Maybe you’ll have the beginnings of a great chef on your hands! |
 |
Grocery and Market Melissa and Doug Grocery Store: Own your own business! How cool is it to have an entire grocery store to yourself? It even doubles as a lemonade stand, the perfect thing for a summer day. Kids will love the grocery store because of all the cool toys it comes with. There are plastic bins to carry all the plastic produce and boxes of pretend food. Removable chalkboard signs let kids write on them and choose where to display their goods. The fabric awning is reversible so kids can choose whether to sell food or lemonade. Great for children ages three and up. |
 |
Fishing Learning Resources Fishing Set: Reel in some big fish with this set! There’s a little bit of everything in here, and even dad might be missing a few pieces! Not only do kids get a fishing pole and reel, but they also get an adjustable fishing vest for all of their necessary take along items. The tackle box comes with inchworms as bait, and kids can snatch up fish with their net. Kids can fish wherever they like because the fish are magnetic. Set up a pretend fishing lake and see how quickly kids can catch the best fish of the day. |
 |
Camping Pretend and Play Camp Set: Now he can go camping in the wild outdoors and have all the cool gear to rough it. The best toys mimic the real thing, which is why kids will think this set is so awesome. The set features 9 pieces, such as cooking gear, watch, lantern, canteen, and more. It even comes with a pretend first aid kit, so if kids want to play forest ranger and rescue people in the wild, they can. The lantern really works, so kids can creep around in the dark looking for exotic night animals and so much more. Get him an indoor tent and he’ll be all set. |
Best of Pretend Play Toys for Kids
Learning Resources is an excellent choice for parents who want their kids to have educational toys to play with. Learning Resources has been in business for over 25 years, so they know how to give kids the pretend toys they want and that parents love to see. Kids can pretend to be teachers and fishermen. They can go shopping or make phone calls. They can learn to handle money or even make coffee. The possibilities are endless and parents won’t be afraid to join in if asked. Kids will love all the toys they receive and play with them for hours on end. Learning Resources makes sure to give children choices of how they want to play by making toys versatile, as well as highly durable to ensure years of all sorts of pretend games. A quick glance at all the different toys that Learning Resources offers will have any parent eager to deliver toys to kids.
Melissa & Doug have taken the world by storm, creating some of the best toys on the market for children. Their simple, yet totally fun design makes them highly desired by children and parents alike. They sought to go back to simpler designs that give kids room to explore and pretend. To challenge their minds by letting them count money as they pretend to shop or sell. Melissa & Doug let kids be what they want through the use of various pretend play sets. From making sandwiches to dishing out desserts, dressing up in costumes to be doctors to delivering mail, there are all sorts of options available to children. Adults will be happy to see kids out and about instead of glued to a television screen. Pretend sets let them solve problems with their own hands instead of virtually. Parents love Melissa & Doug for these reasons and more – their kids love them.
Why Pretend Play is Important
So many games today focus on using video as the medium to teach children. Kids stare at screens and shout out answers to characters asking questions. Or they press buttons and get automated responses when they are right or wrong. While many of these games can be great for teaching, they leave little or no room for imagination. Imagination is an important part of a child’s play time, and pretend play gives them that chance to exercise that part of their mind.
With this sort of play, children can get away from the screens of computers and televisions. They get up, move around, go outside. They can be anything they want and play with all sorts of different toys that let them use their imagination in all sorts of ways. They can sell food or buy things, they can play house or pretend to bake or wash. This allows children to play at different real life scenarios as well as be something else. They can pretend to be a doctor like mom or dad, or go on picnics or camping adventures without ever leaving the backyard. Kids become more active and have all sorts of fun not just on their own, but with siblings or friends as well.
Whatever kids want to pretend to be, when they have all the options available to them by many different brands, parents can choose toys that will let kids make the most of the imaginations. So don’t be surprised if she suddenly wants to cut your hair or he wants to make you something from his workbench.