Kids can discover their passions through play, whether they’re putting out pretend fires, listening to a doll’s heartbeat, or serving their community at the neighborhood market.
The pretend play opportunities are endless at Melissa & Doug, but for this edition of our Toy Spotlight, we’re focusing on our Fresh Mart Grocery Store wooden play set for those kids who enjoy pretend play adventures in shopping!
Imitating grown-up chores and errands helps kids build confidence and independence, while acting out real-world scenarios gives them practice for how to handle those situations outside of play. The Fresh Mart Grocery Store will provide hours and hours of engaging pretend play thanks to its working hand-cranked conveyor belt, scanning station that beeps, solid wooden construction, and cash drawer, and much more. Pretend play food and accessories are sold separately, but we also provide a handy shopping list of items to stock up on to make your store THE ultimate shopping destination for kids who love pretend play!
Why Kids Will Love this Fresh Mart Grocery Store
Play Basics: Shopping and playful purchasing is exciting at the sturdy wooden Fresh Mart Grocery Store! The free-standing play space with smooth, curved corners and edges lets customers three and older browse the shelves and pay for purchases on one side, and allows the grocer to ring up items on the other. Realistic features include a beeping “scanner,” a hand-crank conveyor belt, a card-swiping machine, a keypad/calculator, and cash drawer. Kids are sure to find everything on their shopping list at this friendly neighborhood grocery store!
Playful Details: This sturdy, free-standing wooden grocery store play set is perfect for playful pretend shopping. It measures 32” x 35.5” x 25” assembled, with smooth, curved corners and edges. (Styles and colors may vary.) Includes a hand-cranked conveyor belt, beeping “scanner,” bagging area, card swipe machine, and cash drawer. The Fresh Mart Grocery Store features ample shelving on both sides for display and storage; kids can shop on one side, and ring up groceries on the other! Makes a great gift for preschoolers, ages 3 and up for hands-on, screen-free play.
Age: 3+ years
Who Will Love This: Does your kiddo volunteer to come along on EVERY supermarket shopping excursion? Can they drive the shopping cart like a NASCAR superstar? Do they manage the family coupons and shop for the best deals available? Then the Fresh Market Grocery Store wooden playset should be on YOUR shopping list for the next gift-giving occasion on your calendar. Kids love to emulate the behavior they see every day, so if shopping at the market is part of their regular routine, you can bet they’ll get endless hours of engagement with a pretend play set like the Fresh Market Grocery Store. The pretend play fun is now open 24 hours—minus bedtimes, of course.
Skills at Play: Gross and fine motor skills; social/emotional skills; imagination and storytelling ability; problem-solving; language and listening; creativity.
Plays Well With: The Fresh Mart Grocery Store does not include any pretend play food accessories, so depending on your kid’s favorite aisle (cookies & candy; ice cream; chips & snacks; fresh produce), Melissa & Doug offers plenty of options for your pretend shopper. Check out the pretend play food shopping list below for inspiring ideas to enhance your child’s imaginary adventures in retail!
Countless Ways to Play: In the section above, we provided a pretty expansive shopping list to accentuate your child’s pretend play experience with the Fresh Mart Grocery Store. To add even more details to the pretend shopping play experience, consider these three added-value toys to enhance your kiddo’s imaginary store excursions. First up, you can’t go shopping without funds, so consider teaching your kids the basics of household finance with our Classic Money Play Set. And of course, you should never leave the house to go shopping without your wallet or purse, because your kids need something to store that pretend money in! Finally, consider investing in the Melissa & Doug Dust Sweep Mop Pretend Play Set to get the “store” sparkling clean between shifts!
Toy Story: “The Melissa & Doug brand of products has been a favorite of mine for a while, so when I saw this grocery store, I had to have it! It was easy to assemble (put together in under an hour), and sturdy. We love that the conveyor belt moves and the checkout scanner beeps when an item is put under it. We also got the Melissa & Doug cart, basket, and wooden food products, and this is a huge hit!” —Kelsey Mahlandt, from a 5-star review
