Create a spa or salon for pretend play, using items from around the house.

affiliate links have been added to this post for your convenience

Here’s an activity that’s inexpensive and easy to pull together, and kids LOVE it.  We call it “the spa“.

Find your case or container:

Grab a cute basket or container.  I found mine at a thrift shop for a buck.  I like that it has different compartments and swing-out trays.  Any container will do though – a bucket, a tackle or tool box, a plastic organizer.  Amazon.com has a large variety of cases available, like this Craft Storage Toolboxwhich has a storage tray for your smaller items, and a deep compartment to hold larger items.

What to add to your salon:

Add a brush and comb, some make-up brushes and sponges, hair clips, and costume jewellery. I added an ancient mobile phone as well.  They’ve always preferred that to any toy phones that we’ve had.

Save your make up and lotion containers!

Wash up empty cosmetic containers, hairspray and lotion bottles, and assorted make-up pots and jars.  Playing with “grown up stuff” is always so enticing!  Jars with lids are popular with little ones; they enjoy screwing the tops off and on and will often get our glass beads out to drop into the containers.

The sky’s the limit as far as what you can add.  Take a look around your bathroom.  Clean, empty nail-polish bottles and lipstick containers are fun.  If your child will be playing solo, it’s also nice to add a plastic mirror for them to sit in front of.

There you go!  Easy and affordable fun!  And if your Hooligans are anything like mine, they’ll spend hours playing with this.