When your child plays, you might notice them taking on exciting, imaginary roles. As cute and innocent as this is, real-life role play actually serves an important purpose for your child’s development, allowing them to explore their imagination, learn from their surroundings, and form their own identity.

We are passionate about the importance of real-life role play for children at Little Tikes and have always innovated new ways to encourage it, which is what led us to creating our latest range – First Appliances. Here, we introduce this new and exciting range, highlighting its many features and benefits for children.

First Appliances

Whether it’s creating an impenetrable fort out of blankets and pillows, or searching the house for imaginary fairies, your child is a wizard at transforming the mundane into the magical. First Appliances provides a realistic set to bring their performances to life. Your child looks to you for everything and will have seen you use real appliances every day. With First Appliances, your child can start to feel grown up as they copy you and unwittingly familiarise themselves with appliances, they will one day have to use.

First Fridge

Tea parties and pretending to cook are classic examples of real-life role play for children. Our First Fridge is a realistic fridge-freezer and includes: dual French doors, inner shelves and compartments, and a built-in ice/water dispenser with fun sounds. It also comes with 10 kitchen accessories, including: a cup, four ice cubes, an ice cube tray, a milk carton, an orange and an ice cream cone. Your child will gain a sense of responsibility as they pretend to prepare food and decorate the doors with artwork and grocery lists. Remember to practise your slurping sounds; you’ll definitely be served a lot of empty cups of water.

First Oven

With light-up stove top burners, clickable buttons, turning dials and a removable oven shelf, you won’t find a more detailed pretend-play oven anywhere else. This First Oven even makes the realistic sounds of burner ignition, boiling water, sizzling and timers, allowing your child to immerse themselves in whatever meal they decide to cook. It also includes a number of accessories to make your child feel like a top chef. These include: four cookies, a cookie sheet, a fried egg, a piece of steak and bacon, a frying pan, a spatula, and a towel. Real-life role play is important for your child’s confidence and development, so be sure to praise their cleaning and make-believe meals, positively reinforcing behaviours that your child will repeat when doing chores later in life.  

First Washer-Dryer

With its countless working parts, your child would be forgiven for thinking that the First Washer-Dryer was the real thing. It boasts unmatched detail and interactive features, including: a working tumbling drum, a sliding detergent drawer, built-in slots for storage baskets, a tabletop for folding clothes, and a number of accessories, such as a detergent bottle and a selection of clothes. Like the other appliances in our range, the First Washer-Dryer makes realistic sounds such as a spinning drum and cycle change.

Whether it’s serving you invisible meals, or pretending to play with animals, First Appliances can bring your child’s imagination to life, nurturing their creativity and keeping them busy for hours on end with real-life role play. Want to learn more about this exciting new selection? Browse our range and find your child’s first appliance.