Guests in my son's play kitchen will have to settle for a meal of carrots, banana, strawberries and a fried egg. He'll never become a Top Chef at this rate. Perhaps I need to take his play food up a notch. Here are some decidedly gourmet options:
There's a surprising amount of choices, not surprisingly, most found on Etsy. Above is an array of entrees and an impressive dessert tray. You'll probably need to get out some candles and nice linens, too. And don't forget to tip the waiter and kiss the chef!
















Shaw's Original Fir...
Oh my god, going to rip off that crab idea.
Adorable!
These look meticulously crafted. But I still wouldn't expect a fabric version to cost as much as the real meal! I think it would be cheaper to give kids real food to play with. Or use these for inspiration and create one's own. These are beautiful, though, and made me hungry as well.
Those are very cute, especially the petits fours. But I'm trying to stretch my daughter's imagination, so for her play kitchen, she gets plain wooden blocks that can be tools, ingredients, or foods.
So cute!
How could you possibly forget Jeanette Lin from umecrafts??!!! She literally wrote the book on felt food: http://www.etsy.com/listing/62856084/felt-patterns-chinese-dim-sum-and?ga_search_query=dim%2Bsum&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5202809
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Little-Felt-Universe-Squeeze/dp/1600596754/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329932709&sr=1-2
I think most of these actually owe their inspiration from Japanese craft books, which have been doing "cute felt food" for quite a number of years. Although they're not in English, patterns need almost no translation if you have a basic grasp of sewing. Some of them are sooo cute as well! If you live near a Kinokuniya bookstore, you should check out the Japanese language craft section. Or try eBay. For about $25, you can get an entire book with tons of patterns! For example:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Japanese+Craft+Pattern+Book+Felt+Food+Cake+Sweet+Bread
Adorable!
Love the idea of putting wooden blocks in the kitchen to make "food" with, I never would have thought of that!
Ikea also sells some veggies/fruit and breakfast:
Veggies:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70185750/
Breakfast:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40185756/
Dessert:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10185753/
Fruit:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30185747/
How I wish we had these when I grew up!
My kids both love the haba cakes although those are the only felt food they ever liked. They like most fiddly of play food, like the plan toys tea set with tiny sugar cubes and Haba peas and carrots. Anything that rolls on the ground and is difficult to pick up.
I made a ton of felt food for my kids years ago (including salmon steaks, sushi, pancakes and ravioli). They have survived 4 kids and are still used by my 3 and 5 year olds. They also include wooden blocks in their cooking (we have a ton of those too)
I'm sad that my son is past the age of really playing with play food, because I love all of these. And having made some myself, I think the prices charged for finished products is worth it. As are the prices for patterns (I've purchased some from Gulf Coast and I would do so again, paying a reasonable price rather than "ripping off" her ideas)