So this activity is fun, easy and adorable to watch.  Kids love to pretend to do things that adults do - in fact, it’s a really important part of their development.

Here’s what you need:

• A low table or shelf, for groceries/goods (a coffee table, play table, lined up chairs or even a piano bench are all perfect)

• Various pantry/grocery items that aren’t too bulky or heavy

• A small shopping bag, such as the mini ones you get at Whole Foods

Not necessary, but definitely adds to the fun:

• A shopping cart - our little wooden push cart from IKEA works great for this

• A purse or wallet

• A “credit card” (expired membership passes or gift cards work great)

• A calculator to serve as the cash register

What to do, though it’s probably pretty self-explanatory:

Set up the various goods on the table and let your little “shop.”  He’ll be thrilled to pay you for them, pretend to take them home, unpack them, etc.  He’ll probably also want to take turns being the shopper vs. the cashier.  You might also encourage him to:

• Pretend to take his lovey shopping too

• Pretend to drive to the store

• Be the stock boy and re-stock the store (and then go shopping again)

• Talk about the various things that are in the store, what color and shape they are, whether they’re light or heavy, etc.

If you have older kids:

They'll be much more communicative about what they're doing, and the whole back story.  They might even want to pretend they're someone entirely imaginary while they're at the store.  Encourage this by playing along and asking lots of questions. 

You be slayin' this mom thing:

• Builds confidence

• Builds vocabulary

• Builds social skills

• Builds gross motor skills (lifting things and placing them in a bag)

• Builds creativity + imagination