Pretend Play Workshop for Kids

A Year of DIY Craft Projects and Open-Ended Screen-Free Learning for Kids Ages 3-7

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Pub Date Aug 15 2023 | Archive Date Jul 06 2023

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Description

Discover simple ways to create rich, imaginative play experiences for your child using things you already have on hand.

What makes childhood feel magical? One simple word: PLAY! Play is crucial for children—it is fun, allows them to work through complex ideas and emotions, leads to a sense of mastery, and is also a key way kids learn. Regrettably, the technology and busyness of our modern lives leave little room for this fundamental and important part of childhood. Pretend Play Workshop for Kids offers a remedy with hours of dramatic play scenarios paired with simple crafts and fun activitiesa rich resource for easy, ready-to-go alternatives to screentime.

Along the way, you will learn the benefits of these experiences, including the social and emotional learning taking place, the fine and gross motor practice, the language development, the mathematical thinking, and the scientific thinking. This allows you to set the scene for your little one, but also tailor it to their strengths and opportunities for growth. 

Each chapter focuses on a different imaginative play setup, including:
 
  • Detective Office
  • Post Office
  • Spaceship
  • Coffee Shop
  • Art Museum
  • Laundromat 
  • Ice Cream Shop
  • Doctor’s Office
  • Hair Salon
  • Car Wash 
  • Train Station
  • Toy Store

Within each chapter, find ideas for how to set the scene, instructions for crafting props, and activities that you can set up for your child. You’ll also discover time-saving tips, ways to extend the play, how to adapt activities for different age groups, and how engaging in the play and activities benefits your child.

Pretend Play Workshop for Kids will inspire you and deepen your understanding so that you can support your child in their play for years to come.
Discover simple ways to create rich, imaginative play experiences for your child using things you already have on hand.

What makes childhood feel magical? One simple word: PLAY! Play is crucial for...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780760381977
PRICE $24.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Available on NetGalley

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Average rating from 27 members


Featured Reviews

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of "Pretend Play Workshop for Kids". All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As a kindergarten teacher who believes that play is one of the most powerful learning tools available, I believe that this book should be in the hands of all Early Childhood teachers. All the ideas that were given were well thought out, simple, inexpensive, and above all wonderful. The authors explained how to create the themes beautifully and did an excellent job of also considering older children by offering ideas for them as well.

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As a home educator to a neurodivergent 5 year old, pretend play is a daily occurrence in our home. This book not only offers a great overview of the benefits of pretend play but also provides guidance on several structured scenarios such as coffee shop and art gallery. For each role play scenario, the author provides hands on activities that allow children to explore the theme with their senses, through creative projects or to practise life skills related to that scenario.

I liked how each scenario was broken down into what kind of materials you might need, instructions on building components of the role play as well as the selection of related activities. The book is really well thought out with high quality photographs and an accessible writing style. This would make a great addition to any parent or educator's collection.

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This book is every parent and grandparents dream!

Instantly, this book transports you to a time when children made their fun using inexpensive materials and a lot of imagination. Fortunately, Caitlin Kruse, Mandy Roberson, and Emma Johnson have provided those who don’t know where to get started with a book containing all the ins and outs of creating imaginative and thematic play-scapes for your child to enjoy. There is a detective office with a rotary dial phone—yep, you make the phone—and it looks awesome! Kruse and Roberson even show you and your little ones how to make a briefcase and include directions for a fingerprinting activity. There’s a post office with a mail bag and a mail sorting center. What a fun way to teach your child how to organize and sort. There are so many more fun and innovative play-stations that I am in awe! Each theme has every accessory you could imagine and so much more! The supplies to create them are all listed and commonly obtainable items. The directions are easy to follow regardless of skill level and there are loads of color photos to help too. The book contains endless hours of constructing and crafting fun with old-fashioned know-how and contemporary themes. My thanks to #CaitlinKruse, #MandyRoberson, #EmmaJohnson, #QuatroPublishingGroup, and #NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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As a parent, this one is very beneficial to me to get some ideas on how to with my child in a way that will help to stimulate creativity. This is some thing that I am working on with him because it is a challenge to come up with just different things that will keep my child attention.

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This is such a fantastic arts and crafts book for children! The projects are easy to follow, have helpful photographs, clear step by step instructions, and don’t require any specialist equipment - they all use the bits and bobs we have readily available at home! Role play and imagination are absolutely huge developmental stages for children, and open up a world of endless possibilities, and hours of fun. This book gives you the ideas, inspiration and instructions to be able to open this world up to your little ones, without the need for technology or fancy equipment - playing as playing should be. A must for any parent or carer!

Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry and Netgalley for an eARC of this book to read and review.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

As a kindergarten teacher and parent of young children, I can attest to the value and importance of imaginative play. It is a crucial and fundamental aspect of childhood. This book provides so many great ideas and tips on how to create and manage fun and engaging play. I absolutely love the photos and materials list (biodegradable glitter - definitely more environmentally friendly than other suggestions I've seen).

I am looking forward to trying some of these out at home and work. I do hope the authors write another book with more ideas; perhaps focussing on classroom/daycare settings.

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'Pretend Play Workshop for Kids' has inspiration and support in droves.

This book is filled with aesthetically pleasing pages with helpful advice to parents and caregivers on how to entice and engage young minds with dramatic play.
Mixed with photographic step by step style and easy to read paragraphs this is the perfect book for parents who want to encourage their children but may also be a tad limited on sleep.

Each section is beautifully laid out with easy to find materials. Honestly I'm pretty keen to play with the Ice Cream Shop myself. The extra details and activity ideas add depth to each playscape.
The vibe screams influencer trained in Early Childhood Education and I'm here for it!

I was gifted a digital copy of 'Pretend Play Workshop for Kids' in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Thanks Netgalley and Quarto Publishing

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An absolutely beautiful, fun, and charming book to create imaginative playscapes for children to delight in. The focus on re-usable and household materials is great, and the variety, adorableness, and beautiful pictures make it a great resource for parents, early childhood educators, and anyone who wants to really think about imaginative play for kids!

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Such a great book with imaginative ideas for young minds to explore, play, and create! I absolutely loved it and our readers willl as well! I could not believe the creativity involved.

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Pretend Play Workshop for Kids is a joyful and creative book full of wonderful projects and activities for little ones. Featuring a detective office, toy store, art museum and more, there's something for everyone! I love that it goes beyond just creating a prop for the kids, but also features multiple activities to tie in with each pretend theme, extending the kids entertainment further. The typesetting and layout is fun and engaging, making it super easy to follow along with each project. I would highly recommend this book!

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Thank you Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this eCopy to review

Pretend Play Workshop for Kids is a gorgeous book, full of easy to follow instructions to create a number of pretend play stations and suggested tasks to go with them.

A great book about why play is important and ways to incorporate into children's lives with easy to find materials as well as tasks to improve their fine motor skills in fun ways, I love the letter stamping for the post office, and clipping up laundry for the laundrette

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This was officially the cutest book ever. And all the projects were super easy to do. (Not like some of those Pinterest projects you know what I mean)

I’m totally buying copies for gifts. Especially for the kindergarten teachers in my life.

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