Pretend play sets & toys
Pretend play sets help create real memories. Give your little one all the props they need to let their imagination really run free. Our pretend play sets help set the stage for endless hours of creative fun, with kids creating new characters and storylines time and again. IKEA’s pretend play toys transport your child into their own make believe world, bringing fun and learning effortlessly together as they develop social skills by imitating grown-ups, crafting identities and dialogue for the characters they play. And don’t be afraid to join in on the fun with the kiddos! You’re never too old to whip up the best imaginary cookies in a pretend play kitchen.
Benefits of pretend play toys
Role play sets are an enduring favorite of children, whether they dream of being royalty, owning a restaurant, caring for pets or any of a million things. The endless possibilities that pretend play sets offer are the biggest reason many parents shop for these toys, but there are a number of other benefits to consider…
Role play sets encourage cooperation, creativity and interaction
If your child is using their pretend play sets themselves, they get to be the master of their own world, creating and breaking rules as they go along. But when family or friends join in on the fun, those new perspectives require some collaborating and sometimes compromise. Within these more open bounds of make believe children learn to work out problems together and with each other, and dream even bigger as they build on each other’s ideas.
Pretend play sets help grow social and language skills
As children act out different make believe scenarios together, they learn from each other in many ways. Among these ways is learning how to interact with each other in both real life and in the playtime situations they dream up. Will they be a friendly shopkeeper when their little sister, the customer, stops in? What have they learned about shopkeepers in real life that can inform the way they construct the character and their dialogue?
Parents are often surprised by how much children have soaked up about the world around them from real life scenarios, books, television and more. They flex all these learnings in pretend play, and learn from each other in the process. They also are put into make believe situations they wouldn’t be in real life, which helps them learn to see things from someone else’s point of view, fostering empathy.
Stocking your pretend play kitchen doesn’t require its own grocery budget
A basket of toy groceries than a basket of real groceries, and at IKEA they don’t! Our pretend play toys are durable, affordable creativity boosters, with prices that don’t take the fun out of shopping.