12 ideas from the plush & pretend area of The Toy Shop. Nothing is sold here — pick anything up and it opens a pre-filled search at the retailer.
The stitcher's floor holds the toys a child talks to: a teddy bear, a rag doll, a play kitchen and a trunk of dressing-up clothes. Pretend play toys are the category adults underrate and children use hard, because the game never runs out. A play kitchen supports a different story every afternoon, and a dress-up trunk turns into a new one each time somebody finds a cape.
Two kinds of gift live here. The first is the companion — a bear or a doll that goes everywhere, sleeps in the bed and wears in ways nobody could replace. These suit small children especially. The second is the set: a kitchen, a dollhouse, a box of costumes. These are big presents that ask for floor space, so they suit a family you know has room.
The common mistake is a pretend play toy that does the pretending itself, with one right way to play. Open-ended pieces get far more use.
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Teddy Bear
A teddy bear is an odd gift to choose well, because whether it works has little to do with you. Some children attach to one toy for years and ignore the rest. What you can control is how it feels in the arms and how well it is sewn. The bear on the stitcher's bench is a jointed one with a ribbon at its neck. For a baby, embroidered eyes are safer than buttons. A set of plush animals suits a child who plays out stories, and a weighted plush has a heft that some children find calming at bedtime.
Soft Doll
The doll on the stitcher's bench is a rag doll in a pinafore, with yarn hair and an embroidered face. A soft doll suits younger children because there is usually nothing hard on it to break or pull off. The dollhouse listed here is the other side of the same game. A house is a world to arrange, and it suits an older child who likes to set things up and narrate them. It is a large present that needs a permanent spot. Dollhouse furniture is the easy follow-up gift, for a later birthday or a grandparent who wants to add to it.
Play Kitchen
A play kitchen is a big gift that earns its floor space. Children copy what they watch adults do, and cooking happens in front of them every single day. The one on the stitcher's floor has a cooktop, an oven door on a real hinge, a sink and pans hanging on hooks. Before choosing one, ask about space, because a play kitchen is furniture and it needs a wall. Doors and drawers that open properly matter more than lights and sounds, which wear thin quickly. Play food is the companion gift, and a good present on its own for a child who already has a kitchen.
Dress-Up Trunk
A dress-up trunk is a gift that keeps changing, because the game is different every time a child lifts the lid. The one on the stitcher's floor is an open trunk spilling capes, a felt crown and a mask on a ribbon. Plain costumes suit more games than character outfits do: a cape can be a knight one day and a bird the next, while a licensed costume is one character until the child outgrows it. Look for pieces that go on over clothes and fasten easily, so a child can dress up without help. The trunk itself is half the gift.
Other areas in this room
More rooms
- The Essentials
- Last Minute Gifts
- The Man Cave
- Her Studio
- The Kitchen
- The Garage
- Her Closet
- His Closet
- The Board Room
- The Christmas Cabin
- The Christmas Market
- Shop by person
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Nothing is sold here — every pick opens a pre-filled search at the retailer, where the real listings, prices and stock live. How this works.