Over the past several weeks the toy cash register, a gift from Santa Claus for Christmas 2006, has finally been seeing it’s first major action this year. This is as a result of the toy-repositioning project of autumn ’07 (also called never-ending home reconstruction). The cash register has helped turn our home, and virtually everything in it, into a pretend retail superstore – like Wal-Mart only with employee health insurance and really low prices – most everything in our house apparently will cost you somewhere between one and 8 cents!
My girl, wife and I take turns playing customer and shopkeeper. We use the activity as way to teach good manners (masked as pleasant customer service), money (although the set comes with a credit card – which is funny because that’s all she sees daddy using) and product placement (she is learning to make smart decisions about how to organize things – like stuffed animals in their own section, pencils all together in a bucket, etc.)
It is absolutely hilarious to hear her interact with me as a stranger and customer. I will come in with a baby stroller and doll, pretending to stumble in after visiting the park. She will suggest items for me to buy for my baby speaking in flowery terms about the benefits of a particular book or trinket. She is also likely to attempt to pawn off her little sister’s pacifier on me for 4 cents. I make my selections and she will collect my parcels in a cute little gift bag then tally up my total bill. This may very well be the funniest part – to see a young learner navigate the register (you can also see kind of skill at most major big box retailers this time of year – although they will probably not be as cute as your own child).
In the end, it is a load of fun to watch the brain of a small child at work and hear the way youngsters position certain items in an effort to sell them to you. I’m not going to claim that this fun game holds any larger life lessons, although it may, but I can guarantee a very good and creative time together.