Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till and Shopping Basket Review: Brilliant Toys for Imaginative Role Play
Editor's Note (2026): This review is based on our experience with these Casdon toys in 2017. I've updated the article to improve readability and SEO while preserving my original thoughts and experience.
If there's one thing Summer has always loved, it's imaginative role play.
Whether she was pretending to clean the house with her miniature vacuum, running her own supermarket or making endless cups of pretend tea, she could happily spend hours creating little worlds of her own.
We've owned quite a few Casdon toys over the years, so when we were asked to review the Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till alongside the Casdon Shopping Basket, I already knew they would fit perfectly into her growing collection.
They certainly didn't disappoint.
Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till Review
The Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till has been designed to look and feel like a real supermarket checkout, making it perfect for children who love pretending to run their own shop.
What immediately stood out was just how many interactive features it included.
The electronic till comes complete with:
Chip and PIN card reader
Play debit cards with PIN numbers
Play coins and notes
Pretend food items
Working calculator
Receipt roll
Pretend microphone for store announcements
The card reader can even be positioned to face either the customer or the shopkeeper, which is a lovely little touch that makes the role play feel even more realistic.
One of Summer's favourite features was entering the correct PIN.
When the right number was entered, the machine lit up green and rang a little bell, just like a real card payment. She thought this was brilliant and insisted every customer paid by card!
Casdon Shopping Basket
The Shopping Basket was the perfect companion to the till.
It comes filled with a mixture of recognisable branded groceries alongside fresh fruit and vegetables, making shopping games feel much more realistic.
Because many of the products looked similar to items we buy during our weekly supermarket shop, Summer instantly recognised them and enjoyed filling her basket before heading over to the checkout.
She loved swapping between being the customer and the shopkeeper, and I often found myself being asked to queue up and pay for my shopping several times a day.
Encouraging Imaginative Play
What I particularly liked about these toys was how naturally they encouraged learning through play.
Without even realising it, Summer was practising:
Counting money.
Recognising numbers.
Taking turns.
Developing communication skills.
Building confidence through imaginative role play.
There were plenty of opportunities to introduce simple maths while still keeping everything fun.
The pretend microphone on the back of the till was another feature she absolutely loved.
She would regularly make supermarket announcements to the rest of the family before happily scanning everyone's shopping.
What We Loved
After spending plenty of time playing with both toys, these were the standout features:
Excellent quality and sturdy construction.
Lots of realistic supermarket features.
Encourages imaginative and creative play.
Great for practising counting and simple maths.
The shopping basket perfectly complements the till.
Suitable for independent play or playing together.
Would I Recommend the Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till?
Definitely.
If your child enjoys pretending to play shops, these two sets work brilliantly together.
The electronic features make the till feel realistic without being complicated to use, while the shopping basket adds another layer of imaginative play.
More than anything, I loved watching how naturally Summer created her own little supermarket, inventing conversations, helping customers and happily playing for long periods using nothing but her imagination.
Those are often the toys that get the most use, and these were certainly no exception.
Disclosure: We received the Casdon Chip 'n' Pin Till and Shopping Basket for the purpose of this review in 2017. As always, all opinions are entirely my own and reflect our genuine experience at the time. This article has been updated for readability and SEO while preserving my original review.
