When your child plays, you might notice them taking on exciting, imaginary roles. As cute and innocent as this is, real-life role play actually serves an important purpose for your child’s development, allowing them to explore their imagination, learn from their surroundings, and form their own identity.

We are passionate about the importance of real-life role play for children and have always innovated new ways to encourage it, which is what led us to creating our latest range – First Appliances. Here, we introduce this new and exciting range, highlighting its many features and benefits for children.

Whether it’s creating an impenetrable fort out of blankets and pillows, or searching the house for imaginary fairies, your child is a wizard at transforming the mundane into the magical. First Appliances provides a realistic set to bring their performances to life. Your child looks to you for everything and will have seen you use real appliances every day. With First Appliances, your child can start to feel grown up as they copy you and unwittingly familiarise themselves with appliances they will one day have to use.

Tea parties and pretending to cook are classic examples of real-life role play for children. Our First Fridge is a realistic fridge-freezer and includes: dual French doors, inner shelves and compartments, and a built-in ice/water dispenser with fun sounds. It also comes with 10 kitchen accessories, including: a cup, four ice cubes, an ice cube tray, a milk carton, an orange and an ice cream cone. Your child will gain a sense of responsibility as they pretend to prepare food and decorate the doors with artwork and grocery lists. Remember to practise your slurping sounds; you’ll definitely be served a lot of empty cups of water.

With light-up stove top burners, clickable buttons, turning dials and a removable oven shelf, you won’t find a more detailed pretend-play oven anywhere else. This First Oven even makes the realistic sounds of burner ignition, boiling water, sizzling and timers, allowing your child to immerse themselves in whatever meal they decide to cook. It also includes a number of accessories to make your child feel like a top chef. These include: four cookies, a cookie sheet, a fried egg, a piece of steak and bacon, a frying pan, a spatula, and a towel. Real-life role play is important for your child’s confidence and development, so be sure to praise their cleaning and make-believe meals, positively reinforcing behaviours that your child will repeat when doing chores later in life.  

This two-part role play toy will leave your child feeling like a true grown up. With its fun, sleek design, the First Sink & Stove features a working water pump, clicking knobs, realistic sounds, as well as a variety of safe, colourful utensils. One of the reasons play really matters is that it allows your child to develop their creativity and understanding of the world. Children will love cleaning their pretend plates and pans, splashing around in the washing bowl and learning along the way.

With its countless working parts, your child would be forgiven for thinking that the First Washer-Dryer was the real thing. It boasts unmatched detail and interactive features, including: a working tumbling drum, a sliding detergent drawer, built-in slots for storage baskets, a table top for folding clothes, and a number of accessories, such as a detergent bottle and a selection of clothes. Like the other appliances in our range, the First Washer-Dryer makes realistic sounds such as a spinning drum and cycle change.

If you want to give your child an even greater sense of responsibility, why not provide them with the tools to become a pretend vet? First Pet Checkup Set not only makes your child feel more grown up, it encourages them to develop a sense of empathy as they pretend to look after and save animals.  With its X-ray station, working scale, sink, foldable check-up counter, and adjustable overhead examination lamp, your child will have everything they need to look after their puppy, cat, and turtle (also included in the set).  

Whether it’s serving you invisible meals, or pretending to play with animals, First Appliances can bring your child’s imagination to life, nurturing their creativity and keeping them busy for hours on end with real-life role play. Want to learn more about this exciting new selection? Browse our range and find your child’s first appliance.