Our Favorite Toys – Pretend Food

Time for the next video in our favorite toys series! Today, Lori talks about one that everyone should have in their toy arsenal. Remember to scroll down below the video to get all the info about where to buy it and what to do with it 🙂

Lori’s Favorite Toy

Pretend food.

Where to Buy It

How to Use It for At Home Therapy

There is so much to do with pretend food!  It is great for working on:

• Describing: what do they smell like, look like, taste like, feel like.  You can talk about descriptive concepts like long, thin, round, hot, mushy, sweet.
• Categorizing: sweet vs salty, breakfast, lunch, or dinner foods, hot vs cold foods, categorize by color)
• Everything Else:  play restaurant and the waiter can practice asking questions (What do you want to drink? Do you want ketchup?).  The customer can practice making requests or practice their target speech sound during pretend play.  Older children who are learning literacy and writing skills can write menus for their restaurant. They can also practice using expanded sentences like “I like the salad BUT the soup was too hot.” or “I would like some more of the salad THAT was made with fresh veggies.”  Lastly, flexible social skills can be addressed.  What are expected behaviors at a restaurant and how are they different from expected behaviors at home?

I’m sure there are 100 other things to add to the list of things to do with pretend food! Do you have some? What does your child like to do with it? Tell us all about it! And of course, don’t forget to check out the videos on the Marble Run, the Winnie the Pooh Spinner, the Frog in a Box, and the Shh! We Have a Plan book videos, too.