Pretending to do "adult" things seems to be my children's favourite play activity, therefore pretend shopping is a routine occurrence in our flat.  A shopping basket was therefore a must have accessory for the pretend supermarket and ELC's one is perfect for this task.

I got the red and blue version; red basket with a light blue handle, but it also comes in a very girly pink.  It's very much like the real thing made out of plastic only smaller, a good size for a two year old to play with.  Just like a real basket the handle goes up and down and the basket also has holes in but these are small enough so things don't fall through.  It's very sturdy and so far a year or so has remained like new.

I spotted it one day whilst in Mothercare, it was £4 so a nice little treat for my kids that was not expensive.  The basket didn't come in any packaging and it also doesn't come with any goods, they can be brought separately.  I did buy a box of play food, however most of the play food which my children use in their shopping games are real food packaging, things like yoghurt pots, Oxo cube boxes, Yalkult bottles, miniature shampoo bottles from hotels etc. all washed out if necessary, but I do feel my kids prefer playing with "real" stuff.  

Obviously if we are going to have a basket they then we also need a till and pretend money and my two children do take it in turns to play shop keeper and shop assistant and it is a popular game when they have friends around.  The shopping game also includes stacking shelves - putting food cartoons on a bookcase.

This basket has had to go "real" shopping with us a few times where I get a little helper to carry small light things like bananas, crisps etc.  I guess it's all part of the learning process and role play is definitely good for small children.

I do find that these simple toys are often the most effective and we have definitely had our £4s worth out of this great little toy!