A child's imagination is something to be encouraged and treasured.  Young children learn many skills through imagination, from independent play, interactive play, language and cognitive skills to name a few.  Pretend play and dress up are wonderful ways to allow your child to dream and act out all sorts of fun adventures. 

There are a wide variety of excellent toys available to enhance their imaginative experiences, some of which include; cooking and baking toys, dress-up costumes, gardening toys, housekeeping toys, money and banking sets, spy gadgetry toys, tools and puppets.

Kidkraft Wooden Smoothie Maker

Your child probably watches you preparing and cooking meals every day.  There are many cooking and baking toys available that allow your child to have hours of entertainment.  Some of the wonderful toys manufacturerd are; picnic baskets (complete with play bread, cheese, lettuce, hot dog and bun, ketchup, corn on the cob, etc.), bakery sets, food sets, a wide variety of tea pot sets, pots and pans, dinnerware sets (complete with plates, utensils, bowls and cups) and coffee sets.  It's very easy for your child to set up their own little imaginary kitchen with ovens, mini refrigerators, microwaves, stoves, barbeque's and toasters.  Little shopping markets complete with store items and cash registers can be purchased, along with gum ball machines and sno-cone machines, the list really is endless.

  Guidecraft Kitchen HelperGuidecraft Wooden Kitchen Center

Dress up play is a favorite among all ages of children, whether it's dressing up in dad's baseball uniform or having fun with mom's closet.  Dress up play allows your child to use their imagination in a fun way through role play and acting out adventures.

Guidecraft Wooden Dress-up Carousel - (available in natural or pink)

Probably the only time your child will enjoy housekeeping is when they are young.  Most children seem to love helping out mom or dad with cleaning and simple household chores.  With this said you will find many housekeeping toys to keep your child busy and entertained for hours on end.  Housekeeping sets (complete with broom, mops, dustpans and feather dusters), working sewing machines and clothes washers are a few of the many items to be found.

Guidecraft Toddler Kitchen Island         Guidecraft Housekeeping Set

Kids love to do things around the house just like dad or mom, especially anything to do with tools.  Complete tool sets for children are available with tool belts, tool chests and tool boxes.  Any tool imaginable from saws, levels, planers, wrenches, drills, screw drivers and hammers can be found.  Workshops (complete with bins to store tools) with work horses and work benches can provide the base for all your child's building adventures.

Guidecraft Kids Wooden Work Bench Tool Workshop

Lastly, another popular part of pretend play is the use of puppets.  Puppets can be found in hand puppet, finger puppet, bath puppet, baby puppet, pop-up and marionette designs.  Along with puppets there are puppets accessories and wonderful puppet theaters to add to the fun.  There is no end to the available puppet designs from cartoon characters, fantasy (fairies, wizards), people and animals (aquatic, birds, bugs, dinosaurs, dogs, farm animals, fish and frogs to name only a few).  You and your child can either make a puppet theater or purchase one of the many puppet theatres offered from tabletop theaters, floor standing, doorway and marionette theaters.  Pop-up puppets are a fun way to play peek-a-boo with a child or hide and seek.  Puppets are a great way to interact and have imaginative play with your child.

             Alex Kids Playhouse   Guidecraft Tabletop Theater   Guidecraft Floor Puppet Theater

Imaginative play is an important part of play.  Role playing and dress up allow children to experiment with the different roles of the people they observe.  The toys and accessories that surround your child will let them identify with different characters and try out various domestic roles.  Imaginary play helps children to adjust more easily to the challenges of our everyday world.