PLAY · TODDLER & PRESCHOOL
Pretend Play: Why Toddlers Love Playing Grown-Up
From making imaginary coffees to putting teddy to bed, little ones love recreating the world they see around them. Here is why pretend play is worth making room for, plus some very simple ways to encourage it at home.
Welcome to pretend play
There comes a point when you realise someone very small has been watching everything you do. Suddenly they are holding a block to their ear like a phone. Teddy needs dinner. The sofa has become a bus. Apparently your toddler has opened a café where the service is questionable and every drink costs £47.
The lovely thing is that it does not require a perfect playroom, an elaborate activity or a cupboard full of toys. Some of the best pretend play starts with everyday objects, a little imagination and something your child has seen you do many times before.
What is pretend play?
Pretend, or imaginative, play is when children use actions, objects and ideas to represent something else. It can begin very simply and become increasingly elaborate as children grow.
There is no single way it needs to look. Your child might run an imaginary café for twenty minutes, or make one invisible cup of tea before announcing that they are now a dinosaur. Both count.
- Pretending to drink from an empty cup
- Feeding a teddy or doll
- Holding a block to their ear as a phone
- Turning a cardboard box into a car
- Making dinner in a play kitchen
- Running their own shop or café
Why make room for it?
Pretend play gives children opportunities to use skills they are already developing. A pretend café can introduce words naturally as a child names cups, milk, cake, turns and roles. Department for Education guidance identifies pretend play and acting out stories as opportunities to explore and extend language.
It can also involve planning and problem-solving: deciding who will be the customer, where things belong or what happens when the café runs out of milk. Development Matters describes pretend play as offering opportunities for children to focus their thinking, persist and plan ahead.
When children pretend together, they may decide who is doing what, take turns and adapt when someone else has a different idea. Pretend play should not be treated as a guaranteed route to particular social skills, but it can be another place to practise interacting, communicating and negotiating.
Follow their lead
You do not have to make every game more educational. If they decide the café only serves purple soup, the café serves purple soup.
The NHS encourages parents to follow their toddler’s lead during play, joining what interests them and adding language naturally. Rather than testing them with a stream of questions, try commenting on what is happening, then wait to see what they do next.
Start with the world they already know
Familiar cafés, shops, cooking and caring routines can become simple pretend-play ideas using safe objects you already have at home.
- Open a café with cups and spoons.
- Run a shop with a bag and a few safe packets.
- Feed and tuck in a teddy or doll.
- Cook dinner with bowls and child-safe utensils.
- Open a pretend doctor’s surgery for teddy.
Playing Grown-Up: The Café
Café play can move from making drinks to taking orders, running the till, serving cakes and deciding what is on the menu. Two cups and an enthusiastic “What can I get you?” are enough to open for business.
Our favourite café find
The Le Toy Van Barista Café Shop is a beautiful bigger-ticket pretend-play piece we would consider for a child who already loves cafés, kitchens, shops and playing grown-up. The retailer currently lists it as suitable from age 3+.
No toy café? No problem.
A child does not need a toy café to enjoy café play. Two cups, spoons, a scrap of paper for a menu and safe food packets can be plenty.
The Floreo takeaway
Pretend play does not need to become another activity to organise. Offer a few familiar objects, make yourself available to join in and follow your child’s idea.