My kiddos have a rice bin that usually holds a bunch of cars and marbles. They enjoy playing with it sometimes especially on rainy afternoons. But I had the idea, why not create a bin that is cooking themed? So the kids can use the rice to “cook” and create their own dishes, pretending and having a ball as they go?

Here’s what I threw on a baking sheet and put next to their sensory bin: muffin tin, funnel, small cookie sheet, straws, ladle, wooden spoon, measuring cups, plastic knives, small glass pyrex with a spout (for pouring) and a few little pots and pans from their IKEA kitchen.

It was a weeknight, unseasonably warm, and spring break. I pulled all this out and took it outside, put it on a blanket and let the kids go to town.

Our 6 (almost 7) year old cousin AND her almost 9 year old sister even joined in. The play time was golden for an hour or more before it got old.

The kids were making mermaid cakes, dinosaur cakes, and a princess cake.

I loved that I caught miss three practicing leveling with the back of a knife (like you do when you’re measuring dry ingredients like flour or sugar). Some other skills they got to practice were scooping, dumping, ladling, stacking, learning how a funnel works, pouring (using the spout), measuring, mixing, cooperation/teamwork. Many of these skills will come in handy during real kitchen recipes.

I love how I didn’t have to be involved at all besides supervising. The kids were completely free to create whatever they wanted. I love that cleanup was easy, all I did was close the box, rinse the stuff that went back in my kitchen, and shake out the blanket outside. When we cook in the kitchen it is much more structured and controlled. Having imaginary kitchen play time is a great way to let kids explore and imagine, pretend and create, which is so healthy for young minds.

What do you think? How do you facilitate imaginary kitchen play for your toddlers??