Books on creative / imaginative play activities for toddlers

[handlemecarefully]

I think young toddlers like my dd (18 months)need some help and guidance in learning 'imaginative play', for instance, when I bought her a plastic tea set I had to enact for her a picnic scenario with her teddies where she poured them tea and offered them cake etc. Once I had done this she got the hang of it and now plays happily with this 'game'. However my problem is a singular lack of imagination (it must be too many years as a boring bureaucrat)so I don't think I am very good at suggesting by example creative play scenarios for her.

Does anybody know of a good book on this packed with suggestions? She's getting bored with just listlessly pushing a toy car backwards and forwards etc...and whilst I do loads of stuff with her outside the home (feeding the ducks, trips to the zoo etc) and I am uninspired re activities at home. If nobody has written a book like this there's certainly a gap in the market!

Ooh - great request - can't wait to see some ideas here. It hadn't occurred to me that my dd (also 18 months) could even do imaginative play but then this morning as we were eating breakfast she started pushing her piece of toast around the tray saying "woo-woo", which is her train noise. Made me realise I should be encouraging her in her flights of fantasy a bit more!

I think imaginative play comes into effect when they are a bit older? I might be wrong, but I thought it was about 3/4? My ds is 22 months and will 'feed' a doll or 'pretend' to go to the shop for some milk but that's about it. If there is a book I want it too!

Meant to add if I pretend a big cardboard box is a bus and sit him in it he looks at me as if I'm mad.

funnily enough, a book called 'baby days' arrived today from amazon. I bought it for dh who complained that while I seemed to 'know' how to endlessly witter on and invent incy wincy spider games with ds, he didn't have a clue what to do with him sometimes. It's quite a sweet book written by an american called barbara rowley and has lots of simple stuff that means you can turn everyday activities into fun. It's intended for kids up to three...worth a look on amazon if you have a moment. Some of the suggestions are a bit bizarre and some you think 'I could have worked that one out' but on balance I am glad to have bought it...good luck

Brilliant, thanks for the 2 book suggestions.

DD is 22 months (today) and loves to pretend play. She has a whole range of toys which she spends ages with for copying real life activities, like a kitchen, play food, a till, pushchair, dolls, doll highchair and feeding things, bath for baby, washing machine, iron and ironing board, vacuum, etc.

Shopping trips
Give her a bag and some pennies, have some items out for her to 'buy' like cans, boxes and fruit. If she has a doll's pushcahir she could even take baby for the ride too.

Cooking/Making dinner
Does she have a toy kitchen and some play food to make dinner with. Or if not, give her one of your pans some boxes to pour from and maybe some dried pasta or rice to 'cook' and serve on her tea set.

She also will spend ages with the Happy Land type toys and has a house, farm and hospital so far. She plays with them for 30 minutes or so at a time making the people and the animals wander round the different parts. Hey, even the cows get a bath in her mind! Hoping to get a train set to go with it at her birthday.