Kids are naturally curious, and want to understand how things work. The latest pretend play offering from Melissa & Doug not only promotes learning cause-and-effect, it inspires kids to be entrepreneurs and manage their own business!
Now available at MelissaAndDoug.com, our Sort, Stock, Select Vending Machine will engage your kids with hands-on, kid-powered, imaginative pretend play fun that also promotes important developmental skills.
Pretend play provides kids with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the story and be a part of the action, while expressing themselves creatively and expanding their imaginations. If you’re a parent or caregiver with a kiddo who loves pretend play, our latest Toy Spotlight offering will push all the right buttons. Read on to get the scoop on our latest pretend play hit toy!
Why Kids Will Love this Pretend Play Vending Play Set
Sort, Stock, Select Vending Machine
Play Basics: Sort play food items, stock the wooden vending machine, then insert play coins and make a selection by pressing the corresponding button and watch items fall into the collection drawer of this 16-piece pretend vending machine play set.
Playful Details: Satisfy hungry imaginations with the push of a button! Open up the back of the unique wooden vending machine and stock it with nine double-sided play food packages, including snack bars, drinks, and pouches. On the front, select an item, insert a color-matching play coin or bank card, press the corresponding letter and number button, and the snack drops into the collection drawer! No batteries required! There’s a sign that can be personalized and a reusable activity card for keeping track of what to stock and what to display. The vending machine measures 17 inches high x 12.5 inches wide x 5.5 inches deep, and requires no assembly. This vending play set is an engaging, hands-on way to help teach kids about cause-and-effect, and to encourage letter, number, and color recognition, sorting, matching, counting, and fine motor skills. All the pieces store in the vending machine for easy cleanup.
Age: 3+ years
Parents Will Love This Feature: Kids can sort play food items, stock the wooden vending machine, then insert play coins and make a selection by pressing the corresponding button and watch items fall into the collection drawer—all with NO batteries required!
Who Will Love This: The curious toddler who loves to know how things work, and enjoys the concept of cause-and-effect: “If you put coins in the slot, then the item you select comes out!” Also, any kid who enjoys going shopping with mom or dad, or future entrepreneurs who could run their own businesses someday! Kids who generally enjoy pretend play, especially if they love to play “shop” and run a pretend store.
Skills at Play: It’s a fun way to teach cause-and-effect and encourage imaginative play, sorting, counting, letter recognition, and other developmental skills.
Pretend play offers many developmental benefits for kids: It improves imagination, narrative, and storytelling abilities; expands their view of the world, and how they interact with it; helps them process feelings and emotions; and serves as practice for real-world scenarios that they’ll face as they reach school age.
Plays Well With: Mix & match with other Melissa & Doug pretend play toys, such as:
If your kiddo wants to successfully manage a pretend vending machine side hustle, it’s important to be organized, rotate your stock on schedule, and keep track of spending, costs, and revenue. Wanna-be moguls should invest in our Magnetic Daily Calendar to help get their business off the ground.
Keep that retail area neat as a pin to attract more pretend customers. Stay on top of regular cleanings with our Dust Sweep Mop pretend play set.
Every market you visit in real life has vending machines stationed near the entrance. If you’re looking for a prime pretend traffic location to put your Sort Stock Select Vending Machine, consider a play space such as our Fresh Market Grocery Store.
Enjoy this blog post? Check out more of our great play-related content:
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