Step2 Pretend Grocery Store: An Easy Screen-Free Activity Kids Love

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I LOVE finding ways to encourage our youngest to PLAY!

While I know the world has changed a lot over the years, I cringe a little at how dependent so many kids have become on screens these days. At family holidays and gatherings, it honestly makes me sad to look around and see so many of the kids sitting on tablets or using their parents’ phones.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are from the hours upon hours of screen-free play we had when our extended family would get together. Us cousins made up games, played house, created elaborate pretend scenarios, and somehow always found something to do. So, in that aspect, I’m a little sad how times have changed.

In our house, we strive to be what I’d call ‘a screen-conscious family’. (We used to foster and I saw some serious screen addictions at extremely young ages that really opened my eyes to the benefits of minimal to know screens.) I’m not completely against screens. They absolutely have their place. (We LOVE family movie night!) But we’re also very intentional about how much screen time we allow, especially with our youngest. Ruby typically gets screen time just once or twice a week and usually only for a short stint.

Instead, we focus on lots and lots of PLAY! Because you know what? Kids learn through play!

Kids learn so much through hands-on, imaginative play. And I love finding toys that encourage them to create their own fun instead of doing all the entertaining for them. One of my longtime favorite brands for this is Step2. They have so many great toys designed for pretend play. Today I’m focusing on two options that I think deserve to be staples in homes with young kids. Check out the Step2 Little Helper’s Shopping Cart and 101 PC Play Food Assortment.

Step2 Little Helper’s Shopping Cart + 101 PC Play Food Assortment

These two toys are great individually, but put them together and you’ve got the makings of hours of imaginative play.

Because my daughter LOVES when we hit up the grocery stores that have ‘kid carts’, I knew the Little Helper’s Shopping Cart would be a hit with her. It gives kids their very own kid-sized cart to push around the house! Get ready to watch them load it up with their favorite things and incorporate it into all kinds of pretend-play scenarios.

Pair the fun shopping cart with Step2’s 101 pieces of colorful play food and suddenly your living room can become a grocery store, kitchen, restaurant, café, or anything else your child dreams up. And that’s exactly the kind of toy I love.

Ideas For Play

• Set Up A Pretend Grocery Store: Spread the play food around the room on shelves, tables, counters, or inside a play kitchen. Then send your child off with their shopping cart to go grocery shopping. You can keep things completely open-ended or add a little extra challenge by making a simple shopping list. For younger children, use pictures instead of words. Ask them to find a banana, milk, bread, vegetables, or whatever other foods you’ve included on their list. Once they’ve finished shopping, it’s time to check out! (For even more play, take turns being the shopper, cashier, stocker, or parent.)
• Play House: My favorite as a kid! Ruby loves to combine the grocery store scenario by loading up her groceries, bringing them “home,” and then using the play food to make food for the family. Adding a baby doll to the mix is a must for her, which adds another entire layer of pretend play. Baby gets to tag along on the shopping trip, go for a walk, eat lunch, take a nap, and then do it all over again.

Additional Play Ideas

• Restaurant or Café: Set up a pretend restaurant where kids take orders, prepare meals, serve customers, and clean up afterward. Add a notepad for taking orders and homemade menus for even more fun.
• Farmers Market: Sort the fruits and vegetables into baskets and create a little farmers market. Kids can take turns being the farmer/vendor and customer.
• Food Delivery: Turn the shopping cart into a delivery cart! Have kids take “orders,” gather the requested foods, and deliver them to different rooms or family members.
• Cooking Show: Let your child pretend they’re hosting their own cooking show. They can choose ingredients, explain what they’re making, and serve their finished creation.
• Picnic: Fill the shopping cart with everything needed for a pretend picnic, push it to another room or outside, and set up lunch for dolls or stuffed animals.
• Color Hunt: Ask kids to fill their cart with foods of a certain color. “Can you find five red foods?” It’s an easy way to sneak color recognition and counting into play.

• Food Sorting Challenge: Sort foods into fruits, vegetables, desserts, breakfast foods, drinks, etc. The shopping cart can be used to transport each category to its proper “department.” This is also a great time to teach them about the food pyramid and balanced meals.
• Birthday Party: Kids can shop for everything they need for a pretend birthday celebration, prepare the food, invite stuffed animals or dolls, and host the party.
• School Cafeteria: Set up a lunch line where one child serves meals while the others bring dolls or stuffed animals through with their trays (or baskets).
• Food Truck: The play food becomes the menu, while kids take orders and prepare meals for their customers. A cardboard box could even become the food truck window.
• Meal Planning Challenge: Give your child a mission such as, “We’re having breakfast. What should we buy?” or “Find everything we need for a healthy lunch.” This is especially good for older preschoolers.
• Shopping Cart Delivery Driver: Load up the cart with packages, food, stuffed animals, or other toys and make deliveries around the house. (This one extends the cart’s usefulness beyond just the play food.)

Simple Toys Can Lead To BIG Imaginations

I especially love adding new open-ended toys that work with toys we already own. A shopping cart and play food do that seamlessly. They’re both simple concepts that kids immediately understand. Because grocery shopping and preparing food are things they see adults doing all the time! But once those toys are in their hands, they get to take over the story.

Final Thoughts On These Step2 Pretend Grocery Store Toys

Making sure our kids learn from an early age that they don’t need a screen in front of them to have fun is a top priority. Because, as a seasoned mom, I’m always going to choose toys that encourage my kids to get up, move, imagine, and create over another reason to sit in front of a screen. And the Step2 Little Helper’s Shopping Cart paired with the 101 PC Play Food Assortment is exactly the kind of combination I love for Ruby. Check them out and consider adding them to your toy lineup today!

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