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Have you ever listened to your children playing pretend? When you do, you’ll notice all the skills they are developing through play and by using their imaginations! Young children develop their language and cognitive skills through pretend play. You’ll often notice that they even pretend to be an adult, and mimic the language their par
ents use, while playing. My son likes to lower his voice, nice and deep, and sound like a grown up. Playing pretend with others, allows kids to work on communication and social skills. Children learn to take turns, and problem solve.
We absolutely love playing pretend as a family. Creating our own worlds through play, is a new and exciting experience every time. My children create new stories, become new characters, and always have something interesting and fun to say. My 5 year old son often takes the lead, while my 20 month old explores the materials and takes direction from her big brother. With my 5 year old, I even like to work in a little math skills when we use pretend money, by asking for change or asking for the total cost of an order.
The beauty of pretend play, is that all you need is an imagination to enjoy yourself. We absolutely love setting up our pretend play using our market by KidKraft and use it to create many different marketplaces. The chalkboard feature allows us to name our market place over and and over again. It is magnetic, which comes in handy for hanging up signs and menus. You can turn it around to have a different look, and it comes with so many props for a market or coffee shop! We even set up pretend play areas outside using our mud kitchen as a base. However, you can have just as much fun setting up pretend play centers using cardboard boxes!
Check out some of the pretend play centers we have set up using our instant download printables! Each available for purchase in the shop!
Our Laundromat:
Our Weather Station:
Our Garden Shop:
Which also makes a great outdoor mud kitchen garden shop!
Our Recycling Center:
