Soph has always loved playing shops, it's been her favourite at play group, I've been told of her setting up shop at nursery and the toy kitchen we got her just gets used as a shop counter! We usually use food out of the cupboard and toys (toy shop), but this week Soph's dreams came true in the form of the Chip & Pin till and shopping basket from Casdon toys.
This set is an absolute must for any other little shop play fans and had we not been sent it to review, it would 100% be on her Christmas list if I'd seen it.
The set includes a digital calculator till, with a screen, chip and pin machine with real pin numbers and toy cards, a cash machine with play money notes and coins as well as a microphone for shop announcements and basket jam packed with life like miniature shop products that we know and love.
As well as the set, the box also includes spare tins and labels, a few more boxes to construct and stickers for the till and credit cards to make it more realistic. Our top tip is to pop sellotape around the boxes to keep them cleaner and stronger for longer.
Soph got to work straight away setting up her shop, inviting customers in and assigning herself the role of manager with me as her 'shop worker'! We've played shops SO many times but this was so much more fun and realistic. Soph got herself a pencil to write on the receipts that can be wound out the till and had fun pretending to scan food for her customers whilst pressing buttons for a realistic shop beeping sound.
Anything that has the kids playing together is always a welcome addition to the toy collection and this will be very much loved for quite some time. I love having all the realistic packaging and some familiar brands. Although miniature, this makes the kids shop play so much more authentic and fun.
I love the small details like the cards with a signature strip and working pin number! The pin number is imprinted in the plastic so can't get lost, but Alf found using this part much easier than Soph (4). This didn't stop fun in any way though and Soph very much likes counting money out and giving a LOT of change! She priced her own items, with tea bags at 10p and a tin of soup at 20 thousand pounds - bargain!
At one point Soph even evicted one rowdy customer out the shop (her brother Alf aka Austin) for buying too much - I think she has lots to learn but is loving running shop and taking it in turns with Alf to play customer, bringing the pets in for food (pretending soup tins are cat food) and tidying up the shelves. This is also really helping her number and letter recognition and even her writing with all those receipts.
As someone that has worked in retail, it amazes me how much they enjoy playing shop, but I'm all for anything that gets the creative juices flowing and encourages them to make up stories, role play and have fun away from screens for a while.
The attention to detail with this set is fab and would be loved by any child I'm sure. Priced currently at under £20 for both sets (Amazon) is incredible value, especially considering there is so much included and the till really works! The only very slight downside for me was the receipt part which is a bit fiddly for a four year old, but I can't fault anything else, it's a perfect gift and great value.
I've popped some affiliate links below with some fab offers, but you can find out more about the amazing selection of learning toys from Casdon on their website. This has been a huge hit here! Thanks Casdon for another fab toy to try out. We also reviewed their Toy Dyson recently which is well worth checking out too.
