Pet Grooming Salon Pretend Play Activity for Preschoolers

I'm so excited to have the first activity in the A-Z of Pretend Play Activities Blog Hop hosted by my friend Nicola at Crafty Kids at Home! Of course we picked A for Animals because my boys love everything to do with animals. They love taking care of their real pets but our dogs and cat are not always up for a full grooming by two 3 year olds... so I decided to set up a pretend grooming salon for their favorite stuffed animals.

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You can find pretty much everything you need to set up your pretend pet salon at home, especially if you already have pets! If not, you can improvise with things from around the house (after all, that's what imaginative play is all about).

Our set up included:

• Stuffed animals
• Clear plastic bin for a wash tub
• Box of grooming supplies: combs, brushes, nail files. I used our dogs' brushes but you can certainly use human ones. If you do have a dog, this is my absolute favorite brush, just FYI. 
• Towels
• Bucket of collars. If you don't have a few extras, the dollar store is perfect to grab a couple of cheap collars. Cat collars work especially well on stuffed animals.
• Clothes. Doll clothes work great!
• Empty shampoo bottles or spray bottles. You can even put a little Febreeze in a spray bottle if your animals need a little freshening up.

 Set everything out and invite your children to play!

 My little groomers got right to work. First everyone had to get into the tub for a bath.

 Then of course they need to be dried off!

After bath time, it's time for a good brushing. Even our tiger got involved in the action.

Time to put our collars on! Unbuckling and fastening dog collars is excellent fine motor practice for little fingers.

 And a day at the pet salon would not be complete without a new outfit to put on.

My boys loved playing groomer for the day! This is a really easy activity to set up and I love how it allows them to use their imaginations. It's also a wonderful exercise to practice caring for animals, especially for kids who may not have pets in the home. You can recreate this with minimal equipment, most of which you probably already have. It's become one of our favorites for pretend play!

Want another fun pretend play activity for your stuffed dogs? Try our Pretend Play Dog Eye Doctor!  And be sure to check out the rest of our pet themed activities too.

Love pretend play? Here's 40 more ideas to check out! And don't forget to check out ther rest of the A to Z of Pretend Play.

Which one is your favorite? Leave a comment below or message me on Facebook and let me know!

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