Homegrown or store bought, play kitchens are a perennial favorite for the preschool set and beyond. They are big winners in the "big present" category, but what's the best way to stock one for your child to enjoy? Here are a few things to consider.
Work with what you have. Your own wooden spoons, utensils and dishes can be a great addition to a play kitchen. Cleaned out food containers can take on a second life in a play fridge (think egg cartons, yogurt containers and berry baskets).
Does your child have a favorite food, kitchen activity or appliance? We only realized how much my son loved the idea of a microwave when we discovered play food "cooking" in the compartment of our Danish secretary desk. When it was time to buy a play kitchen, we made sure it had a microwave. If your child is intrigued by your percolator, add a play coffee pot to the mix. If they love baking with you, make sure that you have mixing bowls, oven mitts, cookie sheets and play baked goods.
Consider size and realism. Kids are perfectly happy playing with pots and pans, but real pots and pans won't fit into their petite play kitchens. Realistic pieces like IKEA's Duktig cookware set are ideally scaled for play and storage, and children relish using items just like the grownups'.
Look for versatility. Cutting food like this set from Melissa & Doug gets lots of action in the play kitchen, and cutting it is a great motor activity. The pieces of fruit can be sectioned and used to promote concepts like quantity.
What have been the best additions to your play kitchen?
(Image: Flickr member Lin T licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Ikea has everything you need. Felt fruit, vegetables, fish, bread and sweets. Plus the tiny pots and pans and spoons. Plus the play kitchen itself for just $100.
Just was looking into a play kitchen for my niece because it's one thing my own kids had loved and really used. The Pottery Barn kitchen is adorable but for the price you might as well be remodeling your own kitchen. Then I found the IKEA kitchen which is adorable and such a deal. So fun!
"The Pottery Barn kitchen is adorable but for the price you might as well be remodeling your own kitchen" LOL, thanks for the laugh.
My first thought when I saw that pic was "That's a play kitchen? Damn, that's nicer than most New Yorker's adult kitchens!"
My daughter is a young kindergarten teacher and the kids still love the kitchen centre and also the puppet centre. This year's class has a revised favourite. The puppet theatre is the take out window for the food the restaurant workers are cooking in the kitchen centre. It is adorable but tells you something about family life!
A word of advice to not overload the kitchen. My daughter ended up with a ridiculous amount of food, pots and pans, and was totally overwhelmed. She just moved all her stuff around, rather than actually playing with the kitchen. We ended up putting 2/3 of the things in a box.
Maybe I'm being a cranky contrarian, but shouldn't we be harnessing that desire to "play" cook into actual cooking? I learned to help in the kitchen very young (my Mom grew up in Italy and my Dad was a farmer, kids WORKED in my house) and was competently cooking for myself and my family at 8. This helped me enormously as I grew up and eventually got out on my own.
Just sayin'.
Cooking is for cooking, play kitchens are for make believe. They are two different sets of "skills," if you will.
My daughter's play kitchen is stocked almost exclusively with empty boxes and containers from the real kitchen. Cereal boxes, milk cartons, tin cans.
hazelstone you're right, but it's a great place for a two year old to play when they're too little to help for real.
We have the IKEA DUKTIG kitchen and my youngest practically lives on it. The biggest regret is not getting the wood food sets from the get go. Now we have a mixed bag of plastic ones that are squished and destroyed along with the remnants.
I agree... to some extent. My 4 yr old helps with almost every meal and loves helping with real food. I certainly see the impact it has on her interest in new foods. Then, after she's done eating, she play cooks at her toy kitchen until I'm ready to cook the next meal. I just can't cook enough and sometimes she has her own pretend recipes she wants to make (and I'm not making cupcakes 10 times a day)
My kids are getting the Ikea kitchen for Christmas and one of their side presents are home made oven mitts. I had some well loved ones as a kids (still at my parents) and they were easy to make.
This reminds me to save some of their favourite food containers to add too.
We stock my son's play kitchen with second-hand utensils, pots, and pans from Goodwill. He prefers real pots to toy ones, and they are cheaper and more durable anyway.
As a child, i used to prefer items which looked exactly like the real ones in the supermarkent. So i've gone to the extent of scanning cereal, cheese and pasta boxes to downscale them and past the print on little boxes for my children. And I filled some of them with the mini-farfalle, mini-penne etc, they love it - when they are big enought not to choke with, of course.
A small basket with handles so they can also go "shopping" for the play food is a good addition. I found one sold in a dollar-store with cheap clothespegs in it.
We have the IKEA kitchen too and the metal shopping cart so our little one can go "shopping at the market (ie one of our kitchen drawers filled with play food) and then cook at home". She loves it and we love them for the price and simplicity- just curious, anyone know what's the kitchen in the picture... custom?
i agree with the not-too-much comment. Just a little bit of basic play food (you can supplement with real dry pasta and beans when they get a little older) and pots and pans. My daughter also loves her little tea set. I'm all for teaching her how to cook with real tools and real food, but she also likes to play cook for her dolls. As much time in the kitchen - real or pretend - as she likes is fine by me. I do think getting real looking (and possibly real-working) equipment is good though - stuff that feels solid in your hand.
very true about overloading your little kitchen with too many things. keep to the basics and favorites allows the child to focus and play!
yes, i'm looking for a shopping basket. good idea to check the dollar store.