Play Kitchen

DBecker84 · September 2013

Let me start off by saying when I was little I absolutely loved my play kitchen and now that I have a DD I am so excited to get her her very own! She has the little Fisher Price Learn and Play kitchen and likes it, it's just getting too small for her.

She'll be 17 months for Christmas and her birthday is in July.

My main questions are:
What is the best age to get it that she will have good use out of it? For Christmas at around 18 months or her 2nd birthday?
What type of kitchen have you had success with?

TIA :-)

oliversmommy32912 · September 2013

We have a plastic "junk" one and we like it fine. DS plays with it multiple times a day. He is 18 months old and has been playing with it consistently from about 16 months. We bought some play cooking utensils, pots and pans, and play food from Ikea and he loves them. I highly recommend them.

If I was going to pay full price I would buy a nice wood kitchen but we found ours at a garage sale for fifteen bucks so that's what we have. I think we will make it an outdoor mud kitchen and upgrade when we have another kid.

BabyNewbury2012 · September 2013

We have this one still at the lower level and our daughter is 17 months and 98% for her height. She LOVES this thing!!! Best money ever spent!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Cook-Grow-Kitchen/dp/B008N6INE8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=22FPFCXOCLXJ&coliid=I2TVCXF61J57KI

There are so many out there. I will tell you that the one I posted does not have storage for food which I feel is the only downfall.

allardr · September 2013

Got one off Craigs List for $25 and it's in great shape. Plan to give it to LO at Christmas at 17months. I have plates & pots, also bought a wooden crate to store extra food/plates/pots in next to it. We're also going to make a play table for gift at Christmas since I feel some sort of table is a nice addition to a kitchen so kids can set up meals.

DLo13 · September 2013

I'd give it to her at christmas time - our daughter is 20 months and has been playing with her kitchen since she was a little over a year old and in the past 2 months has really started loving it!!

We have a Step2 plastic "junk" one too and love it!! Actually I think for that age the plastic ones are much safer as there are no corners or sharp wooden edges like the "cheap" Ikea ones. Just my opinion......

ebp913 · September 2013

I love the KidKraft ones. Wood and they are nice looking too. I'm planning to get one for DD for her birthday.

EMOmamma · September 2013

Go for Christmas - that way she has something to play indoors for the winter. For her birthday you can get her a tricycle or other outdoor toy. (obviously this is assuming you live somewhere it's cooler in the winter)

DLo13 · September 2013

LalaMama81 said:

DLo13 said:

I'd give it to her at christmas time - our daughter is 20 months and has been playing with her kitchen since she was a little over a year old and in the past 2 months has really started loving it!!
We have a Step2 plastic "junk" one too and love it!! Actually I think for that age the plastic ones are much safer as there are no corners or sharp wooden edges like the "cheap" Ikea ones. Just my opinion......

Have you seen the ones I mentioned? They don't have sharp corners. Your own kitchen cabinets are probably more dangerous.

I just hate big pieces of plastic in my house if I can avoid it. And I think the wooden ones are nicer. You disagree. Who cares.

obviously you do! have a nice day!

DLo13 · September 2013

LalaMama81 said:

DLo13 said:

I'd give it to her at christmas time - our daughter is 20 months and has been playing with her kitchen since she was a little over a year old and in the past 2 months has really started loving it!!
We have a Step2 plastic "junk" one too and love it!! Actually I think for that age the plastic ones are much safer as there are no corners or sharp wooden edges like the "cheap" Ikea ones. Just my opinion......

Have you seen the ones I mentioned? They don't have sharp corners. Your own kitchen cabinets are probably more dangerous.

I just hate big pieces of plastic in my house if I can avoid it. And I think the wooden ones are nicer. You disagree. Who cares.

Yes, I've seen the ones you mentioned and there is a reason why they are meant for ages 3 and up. The one I have is for 24 months which I feel a lot more comfortable with for a baby who is barely a year and a half. I don't go by the book for recommended ages for every product but for something like this where there might be sharp corners, hinges.....something that she might get hurt on I tend to be more cautious. I plan to stick with my junky plastic one (which mind you is more expensive than the ikea one) and then when she is older get her a KidKraft or Pottery Barn one. As I said in my first email it was just my opinion, just like you had given yours. Thats what is so great about a forum like this - there is room for more than one opinion!!

Haley.Beth · September 2013

We're getting dd one for Christmas (she'll be 23 months). We're turning an old entertainment center into one and buying Melissa & Doug wooden food and such to go with it. You can find plans all over Pinterest. I like doing it myself because we can make it however we want, and it's going to look like a mini version of our kitchen, I'm super excited about it!

DLo13 · September 2013

Haley.Beth said:

We're getting dd one for Christmas (she'll be 23 months). We're turning an old entertainment center into one and buying Melissa & Doug wooden food and such to go with it. You can find plans all over Pinterest. I like doing it myself because we can make it however we want, and it's going to look like a mini version of our kitchen, I'm super excited about it!

OMG, what a great idea!!!

LyndseylovesHugh · September 2013

We got DD a Kid Kraft one for her first birthday and she already plays with it all the time, so I would say get it for her for Christmas. This is the one we have, it is really cute and DD just loves it! https://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53173-Red-Retro-Kitchen/dp/B0030HBVG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380221643&sr=8-1&keywords=kid+kraft+red+retro+kitchen

ebp913 · September 2013

DLo13 said:

Haley.Beth said:

We're getting dd one for Christmas (she'll be 23 months). We're turning an old entertainment center into one and buying Melissa & Doug wooden food and such to go with it. You can find plans all over Pinterest. I like doing it myself because we can make it however we want, and it's going to look like a mini version of our kitchen, I'm super excited about it!

OMG, what a great idea!!!

There are tons of plans online. I really wanted to make my own but then I had another baby and said no thanks.

LolaBelle515 · September 2013

LO got one for his first birthday and loves it, so your LO will definitely be ready for it by Christmas. He particularly likes playing with the fake forks and spoons...

We got a garage sale plastic one (As others' said, there are a ton on Craigslist), but I did purchase wooden food so that it wouldn't encourage him to chew on plastic "food." Melissa & Doug has plenty of it.

DLo13 · September 2013

Exactly! So why would someone care that much about my opinion? It's just that - an opinion. Isn't the great thing about this forum the differing opinions you get?!

baloneydisc · September 2013

We have this one for DD https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3872808&cp=&parentPage=search. She loves it and plays with it every day. One of the reasons we chose it is because my MIL wanted to buy her one for her first birthday. We put it together around 15mo and she has played with it almost every day since.

jasminelorraine20 · September 2013

We're going to get LO the red vintage Kid Kraft kitchen off Amazon for Christmas!! I love the wooden look and if family members ask, then we'll let them know they can buy accessories for the kitchen as Christmas gifts.

DBecker84 · September 2013

Thank you all so much! These are all great ideas and suggestions. A friend of mine just made her daughter one out of huge cardboard boxes and a design she found on Pintrest. I'm going to see how my DD does over there to help me decide as well. As one pp said, it would be good for the inside during winter time, which is very true! Thanks again all! Any further recommendations are still greatly appreciated!

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