Which Toy Kitchen

[Northerngrit7]

My grandson is very interested in kitchen cupboards so I'm going to get him a toy kitchen for his first birthday - which one? The John Lewis one £250 (plus delivery) has good reviews but 1) many received it as a freebie 2) I've had poor experience of JL customer service and 3) it's sooooo expensive . Can anyone with one give me their opinion and also how easy it is to put together? Also recommended alternatives? I'm off to IKEA for a look now. I realise he's a bit young but my boys loved their kitchen and it was used so much over the years...so I'd like something pretty sturdy that couldn't topple over on him. Thank you so much.

My son loved the IKEA one and we had it for years. We got a load of food accessories at the same time so he alternated between using it as a kitchen and a shop.

Toy kitchens just aren't worth their price tag. Go on fb marketplace, there are plenty second hand ones there. Save your money and treat yourself instead 😉

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/duktig-play-kitchen-birch-60319972/

DD has had this one for 3 years now. Sturdy and the hob makes noise / lights up red but you need batteries.

https://www.ryman.co.uk/miele-toy-kitchen-1?&utmcampaign=20539091436&utmmmedium=cpc&utmsource=google&gaddsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADvShRwHKV3vojxmKziCfinQD1-Eg&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm7q-BhDRARIsACD6-fVbViXYEEUGsh3TFkDxmz-dAqo7Tca54F5YCEO4TGID0U6GH5D7eiMaAru8EALw_wcB

It's thin so fits against the wall nicely and looks nice (not like some of those bright crazy coloured ones)

We put it in our kitchen at first and then I realised I had to tidy two kitchens 😂

We have the little Dutch one. Again, a pricey option but we did get it for a good price on sale. I think £90 which is a lot… but it is not much more than the ikea one for example and it looks nicer in my opinion.

I bought the felt food from ikea as I prefer that to most of the wooden and plastic food around.

I bought utensils from Argos. They’re ’Joseph Joseph’ range and they are the right size for small hands but also food-safe which I really like as I would hope to get them actually mixing real food in the kitchen when they’re a bit older.

I got my eldest a Step2 kitchen for Christmas just before he turned 2. He's just turned 9 and we still have it! It's now used for other role play by him and his 6 year old brother but it's still going strong. I know MN is very against plastic and loves wooden toys, but I'm glad I got a plastic kitchen. Nothing has broken, come loose,been scratched etc and looks as good as the day I bought it. I paid about £120.

We got one from George at Asda. It's a good size and has a hob, oven, sink, washing machine and microwave. It's really sturdy and wasn't too bad to put together. Also comes with an attachment to fix it to the wall to make it safer. It was about £70.

Hi Legolord, any idea which Step2 kitchen it was? My boys had a large plastic one, possibly ELC, Fisher Price, who knows? It wore pretty well though. And thanks.

DD got her IKEA kitchen age 2. She's 7 now and it's still going strong!!! We did tart it up a bit with some paint and we made a backboard to stop things clattering down the back but I'd say it was definitely worth the money. The various accessories you can get for it from IKEA were great too.

The IKEA one is gold standard in my opinion. Perfect size, doesn't take over a room and there are enough drawers and doors to hide all the accessories. You can also get all manner of pleasing to the eye accessories such as tea sets and wooden food from IKEA.

Durable and customisable. We sold ours on when we moved house - about £30 for the kitchen and all the accessories. Definitely worth a look on Gumtree or Facebook for a second hand version.

Every single child that came into the house (friends round to play, relations, neighbours) made a bee line for the kitchen. I suspect we could have kept it for longer - youngest DC was 7 and still happily played with it.

Ikea one. Ours is still going strong after 6 years.

It's this one, but only available at ridiculous price now as obviously discontinued! https://www.wayfair.co.uk/children-nursery/pdp/step2-lifestyle-dream-kitchen-set-u003583549.html

The IKEA one is great. Ours did several lots of family kids and still looked good by the end! They also do all the lovely little pans and felt fruit and veg. See if you can get one secondhand as they last well.

Legolord thank you!

Thanks everyone, I've been to see the IKEA one today and it looks great. I live in Yorkshire, my DS and DDIL in London, so I will probably buy new - I agree, if it was local I'd use Facebook marketplace. Any idea how long it took to assemble? - with some of the kitchens it looked like I might as well buy a tree and a saw. Am wondering about using IKEA'S assembly service - it's just under £40 and might save a lot of swearing. Again, thanks.

Legolord I've found this by Step2 which isn't that dissimilar. Any idea how easy it was to assemble? Thanks.

From memory the ikea is sold as a flat pack job. Think we assembled it in a hour or so.

Ikea!

Ikea kitchen, and then spend all the rest of your money on wooden foods and metal and ceramic table ware etc.

I spent 2 months trawling Facebook market place, eBay and Vinted and my daughter can “cook” everything you’d dream of.

The IKEA one is much nicer than that grey plastic one that’s twice the price!

From memory DP put it together in an hour on Christmas Eve I think, so it can’t have been too bad 😆

Got a lovely wooden one on Facebook market place for £10. Nicer than the ikea one

The only thing I would say about the plastic one versus wooden.

Wooden is much nicer. But the plastic one I picked up from FB Athena went outside and became a mud kitchen and has been used for years and years. A firm outdoor favourite

I would ask your daughter if she wants wood or plastic, some people will have a strong opinion about what they prefer especially if it is housed in the kitchen/living room

My husband put it together by himself in about 90 mins I think. I remember we'd just got an electric screwdriver and he was very pleased to have had that though.

Everyone saying wooden is "nicer"... Nicer for who? 🙄 It's a child's toy not a piece of art, and my grey and teal plastic one actually looks very nice in our house rather than beige and black wood! The extra functions of bubbling pan sounds and a spotlight definitely enhanced the play for my boys too. So yes OP, check with your son/DIL but honestly go for what will get played with and enjoyed by your grandson, not what MN perceives to be acceptable to look at!

Another vote for the IKEA one. Didn't take long at all to assemble and its height adjustable so worked well for us from 2-8 years old.