Preschooler role play – come to my shop

N’s role play is really coming alive now.  He’s been a bit limited before and it’s mostly been involving driving vehicles.

But now it’s much more make believe, and making up stories using items that maybe aren’t relevent.  It’s definitely a case of pretending that what he’s using is a certain item…when it absolutely isn’t.

He’s also trying to involve over people, whether it’s me or friends he’s playing with.  It’s great to see his play evolving.

We recently had an Ikea trip and picked up some flip top lid boxes.  I thought they’d be great for pens or other drawing and cutting supplies, but N had other ideas.  Instead he decided to set up shop in the back room.

He had a cashbox with the princely sum of £1.20 (or in his words 2 pence) taken from his Trunki purse, some conkers (not sure what they were for), and plastic food to buy.  I didn’t notice the teddies, but he told me to come and pay for the teddy I’d bought, and then produced one.

I had to play for a while, he wasn’t having anything from me telling him I was busy. It does make me chuckle that he insists on saying all money is 2 pence, even though I explained to him what the money actually was.

Then on top of the play shop yesterday, today he was riding a crocodile.  At one point after we’d had some lunch, he was playing with his friend H and a couple of other random children who’d come over.  They were all sitting on the animal, and N was going down the line collecting tickets.  That really made me laugh as the only bus he’s been on is the park and ride…and you don’t have your tickets checked on that.  So I’m not sure where he’s got that from.

Just so much imagination now.  And if you don’t play ball or tell him the item isn’t what he says it is, then you get told ‘it’s pretend’.

Are your children at the stage of pretending?  What’s their favourite role play activity?