Dress Up & Roleplay – TnP fi nds out what’s popular for pretend play

The power of

imagination Ask the retailer What dress-up ranges do you stock? Roleplay and dressing up are perennial favourites for younger children. TnP takes a look at this evergreen category of ‘playing pretend’

Dress-up and roleplay are a big part of play and development for kids from toddler age upwards. As The Genius of Play ambassador Keri Wilmot says on The U.S. Toy Association’s thegeniusofplay. org website: “Dress-up play allows anyone to dream, hope, and use their imagination. It gives kids permission to pretend to be someone or something different and extraordinary that reflects their personality and current interests, and promotes more independence by allowing kids to practice self-care skills.”

Roleplay fulfils a similar role, allowing little ones to act out real-life situations within the safety of a make-believe situation.

Dressing up has also become more and more popular over recent years, thanks to special occasions such as World Book Day in schools and the prevalence of Hallowe’en costume parties. According to data reports from www. statista.com, spending on Hallowe’en in the UK rose from £419m in 2018 to a whopping £474m in 2019.

Licensed products have become a more solid part of the category too. Phil Cassidy, managing director of Casdon, says: “Licensed products help to really bring the roleplay experience to life for kids. Casdon products are child-sized toys, the Hape wooden toy range is a versions of items that adults popular choice for those wanting to may already use within the invest in heirlooms that can be kept household. They allow children and passed down through generations,” to imitate grown-ups and ‘help he says. “Hape has created a Toddler out’ around the home. Because Kitchen for tots from 18 months-plus: the products look so one of the only brands realistic, little ones believe they are using the real thing!’’ However, always at “ to have a kitchen from this young age. “Children love copying their parents from an the heart of dress- early age, whether it’s up and roleplay is cooking, cleaning, or imagination and making a cup of coffee. play value. “The These strong roleplay ability for children themes are still very to lose themselves much in demand.’’ in ‘playing pretend’ is Phil Cassidy at Casdon highly important for agrees: “Perhaps without confidence building knowing it, parents have and developing key been the biggest influence social skills - whether on their children’s play, licensed product or particularly during the not,’’ says Phil Ratcliffe, lockdown period - just by joint managing director going about their daily of MV Sports & Leisure. household chores, they

He adds that eco have been inspiring their concerns are also children’s imagination coming to the fore in for roleplay!’’ the sector. “Eco-friendly So if you only have toys play a huge role today, with space for a couple of items in this ever-increasing demand,” he says. category, which should you choose to He cites the example of “our Grove stock in your shop? mud kitchen, which is made from Casdon’s Phil Cassidy recommends sustainably-sourced wood with a the Hetty and Henry vacuum cleaners sturdy construction, and provides and cleaning trolleys, because they the perfect play area for multiple are “such an iconic and recognisable children to make mud pies in their range and their friendly faces are a real own dream kitchen’’. favourite with children’’ while Toynamics’

It’s a sentiment echoed by David David Allan recommends toy kitchens

Allan, MD of Toynamics UK & and accessories. “They are always a

Ireland. “With the heightened popular choice for gifting,” he says, “and awareness of sustainable are some of our best-selling products”.

Not so much dress-up but I do have roleplay accessories: guns (you wouldn’t believe how many little boys love their toy guns!); bows and arrows; swords and shields for knights and warriors - plus cleaning sets and tea sets for girls, along with medical sets and tool sets in wee cases. Oh, saying that, I do stock cowboy hats too!

Deborah Ferris, joint owner, Mapes of Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland

The ability for children to lose themselves in ‘playing pretend’ is highly important for confidence building and developing key social skills

Phil Ratcliffe, joint MD, MV Sports & Leisure

Creative play

CASDON

07951 033234 Roger@casdon.com Roger@casdon.com

Casdon celebrates its 75th anniversary this month. For three-quarters of a century, the familyrun business has been creating child-sized versions of wellknown and loved household items for little ones to enjoy.

Creative play Creative play is an essential part of a child’s development and Casdon’s products Casdon’s products allow children to have fun imitating allow children to have fun imitating grown-ups and ‘helping out’ around the home through roleplay, while also developing their imaginative and practical skills.

Among the toy company’s range of licensed products are the Hetty and Henry Vacuum Cleaners. These mini versions won’t disappoint enthusiastic little ones, as each item in the range works in a similar way to the adult version.

Both the Henry and Hetty vacuums have a working suction that can pick up small bits of paper and waste; all dirt gets caught in a removable drawer, which is simple for little hands to empty. The accessories pack away neatly under Henry or Hetty’s hat, and the cord is reeled in by turning the handle - just like the real thing!

In addition to the vacuums, there are also Henry and Hetty Cleaning Trolleys, which offer a variety of tools. Featuring the cute faces of Henry and Hetty, children can wheel the trolleys from room to room, checking what needs cleaning and selecting which items are best for the job.

The cleaning trolley includes a mop with a fabric floorcloth, which attaches using floorcloth, which attaches using the easy ‘push-fit’ method, the easy ‘push-fit’ method, plus a long-handled brush plus a long-handled brush for sweeping. There is also for sweeping. There is also a dustpan and a dustpan and hand brush, hand brush, and a pretend and a pretend detergent detergent bottle and bottle and paper debris sack. paper debris sack. The deluxe version The deluxe version of the trolley of the trolley includes a handincludes a handheld vacuum with held vacuum with working suction working suction and realistic and realistic sound. sound.

Make-believe baking baking

MV SPORTS & LEISURE

01217488000 www.mvsports.com www.mvsports.com

MV Sports & Leisure recently MV Sports & Leisure recently launched some eco-friendly FSC launched some eco-friendly FSC certifi ed mud kitchens, perfect certifi ed mud kitchens, perfect for encouraging active play and for encouraging active play and developing key motor skills. The developing key motor skills. The range features three sturdy kitchens range features three sturdy kitchens of slightly different sizes and specs. of slightly different sizes and specs.

The Grove mud kitchen has a fi llable The Grove mud kitchen has a fi llable sink with pretend taps and realistic hobs sink with pretend taps and realistic hobs and knobs to bake a mud pie! Underneath and knobs to bake a mud pie! Underneath the hobs sits a make-believe oven with shelves inside for storage the hobs sits a make-believe oven with shelves inside for storage and a windowed door - to check when the mud pie is ready. and a windowed door - to check when the mud pie is ready.

Show-to-shelf storytelling

FLAIR

0208 643 0320 www.fl airgp.co.uk

The Master Toy line for Blue’s Clues & You is a must-have for roleplay. This adorable preschool property was recently named the number one new licence globally (Source: The NPD Group Retail Tracking Service YTD December 2020), and this range brings the preschool show to life.

The roleplay collection includes a selection of items that kids will recognise from the show. There’s the Ultimate Handy Dandy Notebook, which is perfect for on-the-go roleplay fun; kids simply slide one of four game cards in and press the home button to reveal clues - they can even create their own games with the free-play card. Kids can also sing along to songs from Blue’s Clues & You with the Sing-Along Guitar. It features three different modes of play, and looks just like the one from the show.

Dress like Diana!

VIVID

01483 449944 |Vividtoysandgames.co.uk

The star of YouTube’s Kids Diana Show boasts more than 5 billion views a month globally (Tubefi lter, August 2020), and her popularity continues to rise. Vivid’s product range is based around Diana, her family and their adventures - focusing on the positivity of friendship, family, creativity and the power of play.

The Love, Diana launch range focuses on four key categories.

Collectables, with a range of articulated mini fi gures of Diana, her brother Roma and the myriad of other characters from her channel, along with a selection of playsets, which will deliver entry and mid-level price points. Fashion dolls are sure to be a big hit with dolls at various scales, including all the classic play patterns with swappable fashion outfi ts, hair play, accessories and playsets. The full range is available and on shelf, with refreshes and expansion to the range across A/W21.