Anyone bought a play kitchen and regretted it?

[ColdShouldersWarmTummy]

Thinking of getting one for DD's Christmas present (she'll be 18 months) as everyone seems to say they're great value and get played with for ages etc, but has anyone bought one and later realised it was a waste of money/space? We don't have a separate playroom so it would dominate one end of our (reasonably large) living room. I want to hear the good and the bad before committing. Thanks!

My DD 2.5 has one and loves it. We put it in the garage for about four months and then brought it back out again after she stopped playing with it and now she loves it again

We got a small but solid wooden one (really just an oven but half of the hob is a sink) when my now teen was about that age & it's still being played with by the younger ones (& the teen joins in on occasion ).

We have it in the corner of the kitchen so they could cook when I did, it felt very expensive at the time but £/play may be the best value of anything we ever bought.

Being unpainted means it could be really scrubbed when needed porridge & re waxed.

Get the IKEA one, not a great big lump of primary coloured plastic.

Mine has adored his since he was 16 months. Plays with it daily

@GreyhoundG1rl

Get the IKEA one, not a great big lump of primary coloured plastic.

What difference does this make to what op asked? My kids had a hunk of primary coloured plastic - took up the same amount of space as a pretty wooden IKEA one and was played with just the same.

This reply might have been relevant if op had asked ‘shall I get a fashionable and aesthetically pleasing wooden toy kitchen or a plastic colourful one?’ As she didn’t, it’s just unasked for snobbery.

@Kanaloa perhaps the PP is mindful of wanting to protect the environment for future generations? The Ikea wooden ones are cheaper than a lot of plastic ones and better for the environment. That's not snobbery.

We got the big wooden Aldi one that has some sounds. DD plays with it pretty much every day. She's always 'cooking' in the microwave, although lately she's been cooking her Peppa Pig figures

It was this one although I think there's a new model now www.aldi.co.uk/little-town-premium-wooden-kitchen/p/080678510006201

I got DD hers when she was two and she’s nearly three. She’s played with it a little bit but not much. Any kids we have on playdates love it but not a great buy for DD.

I did get an adorable one at least and everyone comments on it. It enhances the playroom in that sense!

The ikea one is great. Got it for dd 1st birthday and she played with it for 2/3 years. We also had a shop/puppet theatre from Lidl which was a great buy. Both relatively slim so not dominating the room and they really enjoyed playing with it - still do with the shop!

I think if you have dc who play imaginatively and on their own/with siblings they probably get a lot of use. We have the IKEA one, tbh it gets the most use when cousins/friends are over, much less when it's just the kids on their own. It gets occasional use but possibly not enough to justify the space it takes up.... Although saying that I've kept it as it's out of the way/has its own space. We've had it for years though and it's survived various toy culls! If it was in my living room it would have gone several years ago! The fruit/veg that is stuck together with Velcro and you can chop up was a massive hit with both of mine though!

It was the last toy standing in this house. Got rid when dd2 late primary. Get a good one - ours was IKEA not brightly coloured plastic babyish one so it felt more realistic and grown up. Ours would play cafes for ages.

[quote squee123]@Kanaloa perhaps the PP is mindful of wanting to protect the environment for future generations? The Ikea wooden ones are cheaper than a lot of plastic ones and better for the environment. That's not snobbery.[/quote]
I’m sure if that poster was environmentally or financially concerned they would have mentioned that. They didn’t.

And it isn’t what op asked - op asked if anyone had regretted getting one/if they got a lot of play time.

We were given a big fancy old plastic one by a friend clearing out his garage. We kept it in the play are of her bedroom & under her high sleeper bed, which we turned into a play house with a printed curtain

DD herself wasn't that bothered by it, but it came into its own when she had friends come over. She absolutely loved it then & so did her friends, always the most played with toy. She still loved it til about 7, when it ended up back with friends first DGC

At 18 months I'd suggest looking out for a second hand one, DC won't know, will save you £££ & help the landfill situation

Dd1 got a little wooden one from
Asda for her second Christmas. She is 4 this week, and she and her little sister (20 months) play with it daily still. We’ve moved it from the sitting room to her bedroom now so they often ‘make me breakfast’ in the mornings! It really has been a much loved gift.

DD will be 17 months at Christmas and I think we will save the kitchen for her birthday instead, I gathered 18 months is a bit young still.

Thanks all, really helpful. I think we will be getting one but just need to decide whether now is the right time or maybe her 2nd birthday.. her birthday is in the summer though and maybe a kitchen is better for a winter gift 🤔

Thanks again!

Definitely get one from Facebook market place or similar insane to get one from new I donated ours to the primary school there will be lots of people wanting them gone once their kids don’t play right them anymore !

Both my dc absolutely love the play kitchen so much so we are getting them a suoernarket to go with it!

p*

We got wooden separates (Big Jigs) for DS1 for his 2nd birthday - washing machine, sink unit and oven with hob. They were played with loads and loads, in the garden and in the house, by him and any visiting children. We kept the play food in the oven (melissa & doug birthday cake and pizza) and under the sink (fruit & veg, eggs and breakfast things). They were pricey but I never regretted it, they were amazing. As he got older, he would put trays of play-doh cut and decorated cookies or pizzas in the oven to cook

Friends had the Ikea one which I think is just great value.

I've held onto the separates for DS2 but he has never been interested. I'd have regretted buying them for him, I'm sure.

It’s only a short time you have it in the house, really - a couple of years or so. We had the IKEA one for DD minus the upper attachment, and it’s pretty aesthetically nice for a toy really. She was never that into kitchen role play but she still loved it. Now it’s gone to her baby cousins who love it too! I kind of miss the play kitchen days tbh.

I brought one for mine when she was 12 months (last Xmas) never gets played with, the food in the boxes gets thrown all over the floor but not played with. It takes up a fair bit of space too. I’m going to sell ours and get her train table set this year and see if that has anymore luck 😂

I think older is a bit better. DD only started being interested in hers from about 2 onwards.

Actually we had ours in the house for about 9 years. That’s why it’s worth getting a better one that will appeal to older children and look too hideous rather than a toddler plastic one she will outgrow.