I’ve written many times on the blog about role play and how children learn through play. I love watching how they make sense of things during their play time and how they then translate that to the real world. Equally, they will mimic things they have seen when out and about during their play time, repeating phrases or actions they have seen or heard.

This type of learning through play I feel is vital in educating children about the way the world works. Being present when you are at the bank, post office, supermarket and so on, will also allow them to put this play in context.

Remember, one day they will have to do all of these things themselves and this early play development is the start of learning how all these things work, so they can function in the big world.

There are lots of toys out there to support this kind of role play. Casdon, for example have a supermarket till and post office play set that can help children learn about money and what happens at these two everyday places.

The Casdon Post Office, priced at a bargain £10.00, is the perfect role play toy for any budding posty you may have at home. Each set includes weighing scales, post box, cash draw, stamper, coins & notes, several magazines & newspaper titles, stamps, envelopes, postcards and other Post Office accessories.

The shopping till toy, priced at £15.00, has a ‘touch-sensitive’ screen and a working calculator and microphone. There’s a chip and pin feature, scanner, opening cash till and a selection of branded play food. This makes for a superb learning toy, and something that engages children of a wide range of ages. Not only is this a good way of teaching younger children about how the world works, but older children can take it to the next level and work on their maths, whilst playing alongside younger siblings.

Role play is very sociable and develops skills such as imagination, communication and cooperation – it is always especially nice to see all four children play together like this.

The branded play food helps with the authenticity of the toy and will make the real shopping experience more familiar.

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