Pretend play is such a big part of childhood. It is how kids learn to navigate the world around them, figure out how things work and have a go themselves.

Today Evie set up shop in her and Jake’s bedroom.


The two of them played for hours, buying many household items with pretend money.

I wonder why we call it pretend play? There is nothing pretend about the way their brains are working to calculate the cost of items, work out how much items should cost and provide the right change to the customer (hopefully). The discussions and tax invoices were very real, as were the hours that the shop was open and even the right to bargain!

Childhood learning by play is anything but pretend. In fact, as adults, so many of his “pretend” to ourselves and others in so many myriads of ways. Childhood is the one time in life where everything is open and real. Although I do hope that today’s sale of every item in their bedroom items was actually pretend.