I’ve mentioned so many times on this blog how the kids love to role play imaginative games and one of their long time favourites is playing shop. Therefore, when our latest bundle of toys from Chad Valley arrived this Chad Valley Shop Play Tent was the toy the kids asked to play with first.
It arrives compact in a storage bag so doesn’t take up a lot of room when not in use.
We took everything out of the bag and saw that it’s quick and easy to put up- just let it spring up, join the pairs of poles together and thread into the loops as you would with a basic tent.
Once up, add the velcro open sign to the back of the shop.
Add the shop bell to the velcro just above the inside of the door (you can make your own sound effects each time someone comes into the shop!).
Take one keen shop keeper,
a net shopping bag…
and some play money – you’re all set to play!
We used some real fruit but a basket full of Play Food could be used.
Izzy enjoyed reading us the prices of the fruit on display. When she played with her sisters later they drew food pictures and added their own prices which is great for early number work.
We exchanged money for our shopping.
She practised working out simple amounts of change.
When we popped in for a “bigger shop” she packed our shopping into the bag.
Caitlyn helped out when it was busy!
They played with the shop each time we were indoors at the weekend (we also walked Toby and played in the woods). I was going to pop it down during the week when there is less time to play but instead they cleared a space in their room so they can keep it up for longer (that was one way to get them to tidy the room!).
When the weather is warm (and dry) they can play with this outdoors. It would be a great addition to a playroom, but can easily be put up and down when not played with if you have less space. It could even be brought to a friend or relatives house for play too.
When it’s time to stop playing, the shop is closed…until the next time!
The Chad Valley Shop Play Tent is available from Argos, currently priced at £19.99 (at the time of writing) which I think is great value considering the opportunity for play that it provides.
Did you play shop when you were younger? Do your kids play shop now?
We were sent this toy for review purposes as we are part of the #ChadValleyPlay Panel. All views and opinions are our own.
