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Parenting

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Original poster

Play kitchen recommendations please

18 replies

mineymo · 21/08/2014 13:46

I'm thinking about getting my son a play kitchen for his second birthday as he loves getting out the pots and pans and helping us cook. Are they worth the house space? Do kids play with them for a few years? Can anyone suggest a good one? Nice looking please, as it will be on view in our kitchen. Thanks :-)

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TranmereRover · 21/08/2014 13:51

resounding yes from me. OUrs is the GLTC wooden shop which is variously set up as a kitchen / shop / restaurant. It doesn't have a cooker in it but there is counter space to chop / use pans etc. and lots of shelves for the food / drawers for cutlery. It's had pretty much daily use for years and still seems to be going strong with the eldest at 6. We bought lots of the nice wooden choppable fruit & veg and a bumper pack of plastic "tins" / packaged foods as well as Early learning wooden pots / pans / utensils and lots of tea sets / trays for ferrying the products of their labours to the customer's table. Expensive, but without a doubt the best value toy we've bought.

Original poster

mineymo · 21/08/2014 20:01

Ooh those GLTC ones are beautiful! Have your kids noticed the lack of cooker at all, or does their imagination fill that bit in?

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jaynebxl · 21/08/2014 20:04

We have the ikea one and it is fab. Good value for money and looks nice too.

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cloggal · 21/08/2014 20:04

I'm looking for one for DS's Christmas, he'll be 18 months and loves playing with my Tupperware. So I'm watching with interest. We don't have a huge amount of space, so I was looking at the Indigojamm kitchenette, we've had a couple of toys from them and the quality is lovely

Only1scoop · 21/08/2014 20:06

We have a Kidkraft one it looks fab in kitchen and is taller than most so will last years.

Artandco · 21/08/2014 20:10

I actually find them not worth it

Mine liked it here from age 18 months -2.5 years. After that they were used to baking and cooking actual food so only wanted to bake in the real kitchen. Now my 4 year old makes better banana muffins than me! ( I just put in/ out oven)

So I would personally say just buy a small table top type and use real food where possible ie they can play with real potatoes and carrots and pasta etc in small cups etc and spend money saved on something else

kamikami · 21/08/2014 21:32

I like Plum products. Great quality wooden kitchens - DS loves his! Got it for his birthday last year and it's still going strong.

NorksEnormous · 21/08/2014 21:47

I just bought dd the ikea one for her 2nd birthday last week and am very impressed. Their accessories are also fab- the pots and pans are proper metal, rather than plastic which dd loves!

TranmereRover · 21/08/2014 21:50

They've never noticed the lack of cooker, and it's had the flexibility to be a shoe shop / toy shop etc as well as cafe as well. Love it.

mumofboyo · 21/08/2014 23:57

We have this last Christmas from Mothercare for our dc. They're now 1.11 and 3.4 and they still play with it pretty much every day. We bought a metal pot, pan and utensil set and a tea set from Smyths along with some toy food and they love it.

KatyN · 22/08/2014 06:47

My son got the ikea one for his 2nd birthday. He has already had his £60 worth of playing (and he's three in November)! We also cook a lot in real life too.
And it looks nice.

1980jm · 22/08/2014 06:58

We got this www.littletikes.co.uk/cookin-rsquo-creations-premium-wood-kitchen.html
last year for Christmas and DD has played with it every single day.
It is admittedly a performance to assemble but is sturdy and still looks as good as new.
We got a load of Ikea toy pans and food to go with it.

couldthisbeit · 22/08/2014 07:22

We have this and my boys (3.2 and 1.5) play with it every day. The older one also loves to help in the real kitchen, and then I hear him making the same thing for his brother in the pretend kitchen

SomethingAboutNothing · 22/08/2014 07:25

The ikea one is great, excellent value for money and looks good. Plus it's a bit more compact than some others.

Iggly · 22/08/2014 07:29

Ikea one has been a hit here. Dd has had it for nearly a year and still going strong. We've had older kids over to play and they love it too. Even ds (nearly 5) still plays with it. Yes we do proper cooking too but I'm not home in the week so they get their fix via imagination!

NoraRobertsismyguiltypleasure · 22/08/2014 08:48

I made a kitchen from a bedside cabinet, bought a couple of milk pans and a few picnic plates from a second hand shop. My daughter loves playing with it and it takes up very little space. Pinterest has some great ideas if you fancy the diy route.

caledonianclown · 22/08/2014 09:59

DS got the IKEA one for his 2nd birthday, he's now 6 and still plays with it! Good value and looks nice too

Original poster

mineymo · 22/08/2014 19:15

Fabulous, thanks everyone, plenty there to have a look at. It sounds like they get plenty of use! It's a good thing to ask for from one set of grandparents, then the others can buy accessories.

Cheers :-)

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