Tag Archives: Imaginative Play

Terrific Toy Tuesday: Let’s Get Cookin’ and Have a Barbecue!

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It’s that time of the year when people are firing up their grills and barbecuing everything from hotdogs to hamburgers to chicken to ribs. My daughter is no exception. For the past few days she’s been asking to play with her barbecue set she received last year for her birthday from one of our lovely friends. The other day we were in her playroom, and I had to quickly get our food from the oven for lunch while my daughter was still playing. Upon my return, she had a little picnic area and barbecue set up and said, “Welcome to the cookout, Mommy! I cooked you a hotdog, burger and corn too. Have a seat please. Do you want mustard and ketchup?” I was impressed with her arrangement and enjoyed our private cookout together.

This Little Tikes Cook and Grill set comes with hotdogs and hamburgers along with the buns, corn, fish, ketchup and mustard. It even has some small red and white picnic cloths and the utensils to prepare the food on the grill then eat it.  It is a wonderful toy, and I’m glad Quinn received it because it not only promotes imaginative play but encourages my three year old to share and think of others and to use her manners. As a bonus, she doesn’t have to endure the heat that comes along with barbecuing on a real grill with the sun beaming down like her mommy does.

All the best,

Tanya

Terrific Toy Tuesday:Let’s Role Play!

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2016-01-10 13.41.15“Let’s go to the kitchen and make some food, Mommy!” My little girl excitedly says. But as she scurries off to towards the kitchen, she stops in her tracks, “First, I need to put on my chef outfit and get my supplies for cooking.”Quinn will be three in May, and she loves playing dress-up and pretend. Then again, most children do. There’s something terrific and just plain fun about playing dress-up. So for Christmas, Santa brought her a chef outfit by Melissa and Doug. This outfit comes with a chef hat and jacket, a name tag, wooden spoon and spatula, measuring spoons and an oven mitten.

Sometimes, she loves playing in her kitchen in the playroom wearing her outfit, but often she enjoys helping me prepare actual meals and special treats. I just love watching her face light up as she puts on her chef hat. I’ve also observed how her vocabulary has expanded. “What ingredients are we going to need, Mommy? Let’s check the recipe. I need my measuring spoons so that it will taste just right! How many teaspoons do we need?” she inquires. Imaginative play tends to become real-life play. Just the other day, we prepared turkey burgers, and she raced to put on her chef outfit. Though it is not the typical toy, she certainly does have fun, and it is giving her skills she will be able to apply for many years to come. I am tempted to purchase her a couple more of the role play sets or might even try to create my own little outfits for her using some of the old clothing and items we have around the house.

All the best,

Tanya