Pretend play toys that actually work

[Jojobump1986]

DS1 (18m) is just beginning to get into the pretend play phase & loves feeling like he's helping around the house. He helped peel a carrot the other day & the look of joy on his face was priceless! I'm keen to get him some toys that really do things - hoovers that pick up little bits, that sort of thing. Any recommendations?

I'm also looking for a simple tea set that isn't hideously pink & battery operated! I'm perfectly happy for it to have some pink or be flowery, I just have an aversion to bright pink!

wind up torch from ikea - really lights up to look under the bed for lost stuff

ToysRUs do a good range - Just Like Home which is red, yellow & blue. DD has tea set, iron, microwave and cake set.

We have this tea set for DS, it's lovely.

Early Learning Centre has a blue polka dot tea set (£8) and a bright block coloured one (£8) my DS has one. They do other kitchen toys too with not too much pink and frills.

We have the toy Dyson which picks up with 'real' suction but he still prefers the real thing, and the batteries run out really quickly.

He also loves his tool box/bench to help daddy fix things.

It would be great if there was a Hoover that really worked!

We've got the Ikea tea set - very popular with all visiting children

I bought I really useful looking broom, brush and dustpan set from Smyths yesterday, it is an utterly un-gendered German brand whose name I forget. The whole thing was a fiver, and as I said to dd, means she won't have to do her sweeping with a pastry brush anymore.