Everything You Need to Set Up Shop (Imaginary Play)

Setting up shop can be great fun for small children to play. Older children can practice their sums by placing a value on the items being sold and learning what change is needed. If this is something you think your kids would enjoy, here’s some fun items that would make playing shop great fun.

• A play cash register. This wooden cash register is just back in stock. It comes with a barcode scanner and a credit card machine. It also comes with some play money.

• If you want money that looks just like ours, then my euro play money is what you need. It will help children recognise notes and coins and hopefully, over time, they will learn the value of it!

Once you have the essentials, your child can improvise with what you have in your cupboards to sell, or you can invest in some toys. In order to make good choices when it comes to buying, you should figure out what kind of shop your child is most likely to want to replicate.

A Restaurant or Coffee Shop

If your kids would like to serve food or drinks here are some of the food items that I stock. The wooden pizza is a great selling toy and the toppings are interchangeable so they can be made to order!

If it’s a snacky type of coffee shop/restaurant, some sandwiches or wraps might be to order. With this Felt Sandwiches set from Melissa and Doug, all sandwiches can have hand picked bread and fillings.

This wooden tea set comes with a teapot, cups, tea bags, biscuits, a plate, spoons, a milk jug and a sugar bowl. If this set is too pink for you, I stock a lovely white and grey wooden kettle and tea cup set, which might suit you better? Or, your child might prefer a miniature porcelain tea set?

A Grocery Shop or Newsagent

It’s good to have some groceries in your shop. Many of these can come directly from your food cupboard – like tins of beans and pasta but other items might be a bit risky to supply, like eggs. This egg box looks like the real thing, as do the eggs inside. However, they are made of wood and can be cracked open and made whole again.

Real sweets from the cupboard might not be returned after play, so it might be safer to invest in this cute set of 6 wooden lollipops!

An Ice-Cream Parlour

Ice-creams are also great for warm weather. This set comes with a selection of wooden ice-creams and ice pops on a wooden stand. The cones can be separated from the ice-cream by velcro. I also stock a smaller stand with 6 wooden ice-lollies.

A Tool Shop

Shops don’t have to be traditional in your child’s mind. Perhaps they want to set up a maintenance shop. If so, they’ll need some good tools and a tool belt.

If your child sets up a beauty salon or hair dressors they might need a vanity set.

An Office or Online Shop

Finally, let’s not rule out an online shop. If that’s what your child wants to play, then they’ll need their own computer and phone. This wooden one is just what they’ll need. The screen doubles as a magnetic blackboard and the keys are magnetic too, so they can be placed on the screen.

Now, let the fun and creativity start and enjoy the role play with your child.

I’m always adding new stock to my imaginary play range so keep an eye here, if you haven’t spotted what you want!