Role play involving kitchens, shops, and pretend food is almost universally popular with children. Engaging in role play and imaginative play themed around pretend play food – both shopping for it and preparing and serving it – allows children to role play situations they’re familiar with, and engage with their friends, siblings, and even their treasured plush toys and dolls.

This activity isn’t only fun for children but is also a fundamental way children build skills through role play and imaginative play. For a toddler, playing with a toy food set is an ideal way to introduce a variety of early years skills including colours, shapes and vocabulary while building their fine motor skills.

Playing with pretend food sets in a group environment opens up lots of opportunities for personal, social and emotional development as children engage with others, take turns, role play, and other social emotional learning activities.

And as children grow, play food can be a way to familiarise them with new foods as well as dishes from other countries and cultures as you add the edible versions into family mealtimes.

Whether you’re looking for play food for toddlers kitchen supplies, or stocking up your preschool pretend play pantry, Learning Resources offers a wide range of colourful plastic play food that is realistic-looking, perfectly-sized for little hands, made from high quality, durable materials, and easy to clean at home or in a classroom environment.

Shop our range of pretend food sets today and stock up your child’s play kitchen or pretend shop.