Imagination Blooms in This Pretend Play Flower Shop

Rain or shine, it’s always a perfect day for a pretend play flower shop! In this charming setup, your budding florist gets to dress up in aprons and gardening gloves, play cash register (kids could seriously just press the buttons for hours), play with outdoor tools inside (too cool!), and arrange pretty things over and over…and over! Let smiles and laughter bloom at your very own flower shop!

Possible Props for a Pretend Play Flower Shop

• Flowers and plants (real or fake, potted or loose)
• Empty containers (vases, pails, and planters)
• Small aprons and child-size gardening gloves
• Toy or child-size gardening tools (e.g., watering cans, spades, miniature shovels)
• Toy cash register and toy money
• Sign-making materials like paper, markers or crayons, tape, gift tags, chalkboards, and chalk (optional)
• Wooden crates and/or large cardboard boxes (optional)

Preparation for Your Dramatic Play Flower Shop

Set the scene with your props: Wooden crates and cardboard boxes are great work surfaces, but a coffee table, chair, or even the floor will suffice, too. Have your kiddo don an apron and gloves so that they can get down to florist business, and then let them take the lead arranging flowers—in vases, planters, bunches, or rows—on their display table.

Are they the crafty type? Get out the sign supplies, and set them to work making a sign for the shop, or labeling blooms and giving each a price. They can also make a name tag for themselves!

If they need some hints to keep the play rolling, talk to them about what florists do: They know a lot about plants, take care of all the pretty blossoms and leafy lovelies in the shop, make flower arrangements, and sell their wares to customers.

Kids love filling pots with soil, watering plants, or wrapping purchases in sheets of construction paper and taping them closed. If you have more than one munchkin, they can also take turns role-playing florists and customers!

Playful Add-Ons to Your Flower Shop

Flower crafts

Don’t have too many real or fake flowers just laying around? Make your own! Use any craft supplies you have on hand: paper, cardboard, fabric, pipe cleaners, buttons, puffballs, glitter, etc. Need a hint on how to get started? Check out how to make these nifty tissue-paper flowers!  

Grow the love

Plant the seeds for a love of science in your child! Head outside and pot a few real blooms together. Talk to your child about a plant’s various parts (roots, stem, petals) and what it needs to thrive (dirt, water, sun). If you want to show your little gardener the whole plant-growing cycle, try creating a container garden using actual seeds for easy-to-grow flowers, veggies, or fruits—watching a tiny seed sprout and become a beautiful (and/or edible) plant is downright magical for children!

Take a field trip

Visit your favorite local flower shop or plant nursery and talk about all the different shapes, colors, and smells—maybe they’ll come across some flowers they’ve never even seen before! At the end, let them select the blooms they like most for a bouquet to adorn your dining table.

What Pretend Play Teaches Kids

There’s a lot more to pretend play than just fun and games—children get lots of math practice in the midst of their flower fun, from counting blooms to setting prices and making “change” at the cash register!

Looking for more dramatic play activities? We have pretend play ideas for days—rain or shine!