Every morning I am made a delicious cup of freshly brewed coffee, with milk added just the way I like it. To enjoy with some yummy toast and honey, all lovingly prepared by Essie. Who is two years old. Wait, what?
Ahh yes, sadly for me I still have to make my own coffee and toast, as it's just a pretend cup of coffee and some pretend slices of toast that my darling daughter takes so much time and attention over. But still, she puts so much love and care into preparing that little tray of breakfast treats that it makes me smile just as much as it would if it was the real thing.
Role play is an important part of a child's development, and is a lot of fun! Children love to get into character and act out the roles they see in their daily lives, right from babyhood when infants enjoy mirroring facial expressions with adults around them! It allows them to learn about real-life situations, develop verbal skills, and encourage empathy and confidence as they practise what they have already learnt from their real-life environment.
All of my children love role play and always have done. As such we have a lot of role play toys in our playroom, it's probably the only area I don't think we can have too much of! Many of our role play toys are wooden or fabric. I tend prefer these materials because they are more durable, they feel nicer as well as look nicer, and they are better for the environment. Rather than flashing lights or musical sounds, I simply love toys that let imaginations run free. And if they don't need batteries, even better!
One of the word's largest producers of wooden toys is Hape. I first came across this brand about five years ago while working in a children's concept store and I've loved them ever since. I've reviewed several of their toys before as well as having many others in our playroom, and a few weeks ago they very kindly sent us some more toys to review. Essie loves to have play tea parties so Hape's My Coffee Machine and Pop-Up Toaster Set were perfect additions to our collection. These are both lovely toys to explore learning about the kitchen through play, as well as develop social behaviour and fine motor skills.
I absolutely love the coffee maker, it is my favourite toy out of all of the children's toys, and not just because I'm a coffee fanatic. It's just so well-made, it is of fantastic quality, and the design is rather realistic; it actually reminds me of my old Tassimo machine! When Essie and I stop at our favourite café in town she always plays with the toy coffee machine there, so she is beyond thrilled to now have her own. The coffee machine comes with a cup, a spoon, a sugar pot, a milk carton and even has a little felt coffee pod!
Essie loves to open the lid to put the coffee pod in before pressing the button on top. She then puts the cup underneath and makes "shooshing" sounds while she makes the coffee. There is another little dial on the side of the coffee machine that can be twiddled, though I leave that to Essie as she is the boss barista around here. It would be even better if the set came with a second cup, though it's not a problem to use another of our cups, and I think having a couple of other coffee pods would be really cute. But that is me really splitting hairs, as it is a lovely little set.
The pop-up toaster set is just as much fun, especially as you literally can pop the toast up! In the set you get the toaster, two toast pieces, a knife, a dish of butter with a Velcro-attached lid, and a honey bottle. My children could spend all day feeding me pretend toast; as simple as this toy is, they absolutely adore it and I love making them laugh when I make the toast pop up. It is the same amazing quality that I have come to expect from Hape and I just know that both of these toys will be loved and played with for many years to come.
Both sets are available from various retailers, here are links to them both on Amazon (affiliate links): My Coffee Machine and Pop-Up Toaster Set.
With thanks to Hape for sending these toys to review.
I am a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk
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