Iabu to ask your opinion which toy kitchen would have greater play value

[Purplepoodle]

I have 3 boys who are 2,4,6. 4 year old really wants a play kitchen as we have a cheapie that falls apart. I cannot decide which would be played with more - wooden style one from ikea or plastic one from toy shops like the one in picture or little tykes. It has to be sturdy for the boys. Please help me decide as it lots of money to me and is a joint xmas and birthday present.

I had the Ikea one - can't fault it - it got played with lots and lasted until she out grew it

I can't see your photographs because I am on the app on my phone. We have a wooden kitchen. Three base units. Bought from eBay. I will link if I can. It amazes me how much they are played with. My one-year-old just plays with the toy food, opening and closing the cupboards. My eight year old plays cafes and has a blackboard to write elaborate menus and a pad to take orders. a bit like this . We have a sink unit, cooker, and a washing machine. It cost us about £100. 6 years ago. Worth every penny.

Be very careful about any toy kitchen unless you've seen it set up.

The most disappointed I've been is when we spent about £100 on a lovely play kitchen for Xmas when Ds's were 2 and 4.

I never saw it in the flesh but it came in a huge box, covered in pictures of two 4/5 year olds standing playing with it.

When we opened it on Xmas Eve to set up, it was tiny - perfect size for 2 year old ds2, far too small for 4 year old ds1. The pictures on the box/online had clearly been altered to make it appear much larger next to the kids playing with it.

Whichever you buy, just make sure you either measure it or see it set up, don't trust the pictures.

The ikea one. My 4yo boy has played with his almost daily for 2 years.

Kids don't necessarily need toys to 'do things' for them, I think there is actually much more play value to toys that are simpler and let them use their imagination more. I love the little sound effects my son makes when 'cooking' and turning on the pretend tap!

We had a step 2 kitchen. It was very sturdy - easily equivalent imo to what I'd expect of a little tykes product and took a a whole heap of abuse from 4 dc - 6, 4 and 2yo twins. The only thing which broke was a hook, which got snapped off by accident. The dc used to turn it over and slide down the back!

Out of preference, I'd go for the step2 again. Easy to keep clean, sturdy and durable. The dc all got plenty of imaginative play out of it.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007YXI2DS/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

How about this one, it large so the 3 of them can fit around it.

I have a red wooden Tidlo one - it has been played with every day for three years by my two and all the kids I childmind.
It still looks great and it's so sturdy. I got wooden food, pots, pans and ultensils from Melissa and Doug and a big bag of plastic food too.

We have the ikea one, and our dd loves it, and its the thing she plays with the most, and her friends too. My friends little girl has the asda wooden kitchen and thats lovely too, but a lot smaller so fits them now at 2 but not good for long term. The ikea one can be made different heights too. We have all the play food and stuff to go with it as well, the whole lot plus a table and chairs cost less than £100

IKEA - huge cupboards for storage and it's sturdy. My ds loves his.

The Ikea one. Had mine 6 montgs still looks brand new. I bought it as I read they last longer and sell well secondhand.

Think Ikea also sell a workbench or shop or something that can go alongside the kitchen.

I like the wooden LIttle Tikes kitchen linked to by Stopandlook, it has lots more features, and therefore play value, than the Ikea one. Looks better than plastic too.

We have the Ikea one for our 2 year old, she loves it and plays with it most days. It's very sturdy and the storage is great. I reckon it will last a good few years too. It looks quite 'basic' but that's not always a bad thing imo, sometimes the simple toys are the best for encouraging imaginative play. There are also tonnes of ideas on Pinterest on how to jazz the Ikea kitchen up a bit and give it some style/colour if you wish.

I got a larger Step 2 kitchen than the one in your pic, and it's excellent. Very sturdy, looks good as new after almost 4 years, and has loads of electronic features which make it more fun to play with. I also bought tons of additional appliances, kitchen tools and play food (almost all wooden, rather than plastic, as I think wood does look better - and fruit, unlike kitchen appliances, doesn't require sound and light functions!) and it has been a deeply loved toy. Wooden kitchens do look nicer but, IMHO, they aren't as much fun as a really good quality plastic one.

I have three boys and had plastic one. Ended up with the ikea wooden one? Why? Because they did all manner of things with other one but never used it as kitchen. Think at one point it was a spaceship... Anyway in my experience ikea one :-D

little tykes though are really robust. check it out to see if they are still solid.

is it wood or mdf? depends on teh construction as to whether it will split or not, though if it does you have better chance of mending it yourself.