Wood, felt or plastic play food?

[petitchou]

We are getting a play kitchen for ds1 (just turned 3) and ds2 (6 months) for Christmas and we need some food to go with it. I would love to get felt food but I'm not sure that's the best option for the baby- he'll be 'eating' things for a long time still. So I thought wood - until I remembered how ds1 used to throw things around and I see how he tries to 'play' with ds2 already. I don't want the baby getting clobbered with a wooden banana!

So that leaves me with plastic. Is there another option I'm overlooking? We do have some plastic toys but we're trying to limit the amount coming in.

[chirp]

i have some wood from plan toys...most of it is small, and just fits in ds's hand....he could not clobber anything with it.

still, i'm thinking of crafting up some felt food, because I feel like the wooden food just isn't as fun to manipulate. and it does get thrown a lot.

plus i just think felt food is cuter.

i've seen sewn and crocheted food as well.

we have some plastic, but it's mostly the condiments and packaged stuff (ketchup, maple syrup, whatever...)

hth!!

[mamazee]

We have some wood stuff and some felt stuff, but mainly plastic. Dd seems to like the plastic best, for whatever reason. This isn't a place where I choose to invest a lot of money, personally, so I'd go with the plastic. Like, I think the Waldorf dolls are much nicer than other dolls and are worth the extra money, so I'd invest there but save some money by getting plastic food, as kids seem to play wtih all pretend food in the same way.

[Anastasiya]

I much prefer felt. Wood is hard, loud and a bit cumbersome. All we really have is felt and the baby (9 months) mouths it but I'm totally okay with it.

[Tjej]

We have wood and plastic, and I vote for felt . There are even some cool cloth ones that I've seen on amazon that the banana peels.

Wood works okay, but if you have a thrower, then beware. The plastic stuff is super cheap and crappy (at least what we were given/have seen) and it is also small (choking hazards).

I would think it wouldn't matter if the baby chewed on the felt ones (or on cloth ones).

Tjej

[AutumnW]

I think it depends on how you feel about the materials.

I personally do wood and wool felt foods because I don't want plastic in my son's mouth and we are waldorf homeschoolers and just basically have a minimal amount of toys that are all handmade from natural fibers(mostly by mama to save money).

My sister has mostly plastic food because the material content doesn't matter to her it is cheaper and the plastic elimination she has been doing in her house is really just because she sees people say its better to eliminate plastic.

If you are trying to stay away from the chemicals in plastic watch out for felt food from places like toys r us because it is polyester so it's really the same thing as plastic. If that's not what's bothering you that could be another optioin. They do have packaged playfood at toys r us now that is fabric and felt so it would be soft but still more durable than say handfelted food.

[NYCVeg]

Most of our play food is wood (Haba, Plan) and we LOVE it. It's SO durable--dd had a little of the felt stuff, and it just got ratty and pilly quite fast. It was also impossible to clean when she was in the "mouthy" phase. She was not a thrower, however.

Although we don't buy a ton of plastic toys, my ILs got dd this and she LOVES it:
http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Fruits-...088589&sr=8-28

We've had it for over two years and it's still in great shape.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

We have some wood food, and some plastic. The plastic stuff is by Learning Resources, and it is used in a lot of children's museums. It is not cheap, but totally worth the price because it is well made. If I had the choice to do it all over again I'd go with felt though. That stuff is way too adorable. We have more than enough play food so I really can't justify buying any, but I love looking at it.

[orangefoot]

Ours is all plastic so it can get left in the garden and not get ruined. It is frozen food right now

[DaughterOfKali]

I did plastic for awhile but then just started using real food.

[Tjej]

Oh, if you are going to go wooden or plastic (it may be available for other options as well, IDK), get something the can cut. It is so much fun for them to cut it and put it back together and cut it again.

Tjej

[meco]

My child prefers wood food, but I think it's because it has weight and a lot of it comes apart/they can cut it. The wool/felt food was more popular stackable food and things with toppings like sandwiches, pizza, ice cream cones, etc.

I think a mix is a good option.

[kimellett]

Don't forget to get an old paperboard egg carton and fill it with Easter eggs (assuming you have any handy) They are plastic, but are the most played with food in our kitchen!

[*Erin*]

we have had plastic and wood. right now we just have wood-some cutting food & the rest HABA. Both kids love the HABA best-the small size is just right for them to hold, and asthetically, it's very pleasing. I would be watchful of a mouth-y baby with some of the tiniest pieces.

[limabean]

Ours is wood. The felt stuff would attract way too much dog hair, and I don't like the plastic stuff.

[calebsmommy25]

This is the same question I have been pondering. I would love to get the wooden HABA food, but to fill a whole new kitchen it would be pricey, and money is a concern. I was going to get some melissa and doug food (a bit cheaper), but after some of the recent recalls have decided not to purchase from them anymore.

It is hard to turn the plastic food down when I can get a big box of food from target for $10. I know I am going to make some felt pizzas for DS. They have them at the local sciencenter and he loves them. Plus, even the most craft-challenged person can make them.

[JL83]

IME felt food gets really gross really fast. I got some cute stuff given to me off Etsy. Within a few weeks it was all gross. I tried hand washing it and the colors all ran and it was ruined. I also never felt comfortable with the fact that my DD put them in her mouth and there was no way to wipe them off when we had other kids over. Or the day another kid came who was obviously sick and his snot got on a couple items and I couldn't clean them.

I much prefer wood or high quality plastic.

I don't like wood dishes, we have some plastic ones and "real" ones from IKEA and when the afternoon snack ends up being used in the kitcken I can just throw them in the dishwasher.

[PatienceAndLove]

The Learning Resources plastic food and such is wonderful- good quality and used in a lot of children's museums and daycare centers.
IMHO- I have felt food for DD, but it's pasta and bread. She seems like having items that are closer to their "real" counterparts. But she's also 5, and a bit picky. LoL.

[noobmom]

We have mostly wood food, with a bit of homemade felt food. I don't like the idea of the baby gumming plastic (esp plastic not made to go into a mouth, unlike an actual teething toy), so I avoid plastic. DS does not throw food, so I like the wood. If you have a thrower, I think felt is the best. You could avoid the problems with them getting ratty/running colors if you just make or find felt food made from recycled wool. That way you know the colors will not run if you try to wash it.

[ann_of_loxley]

I am very fond of the wooden food - especially the ones that have velcro so they can pretend to chop them into pieces and put them back together again! hehe

But plastic isnt the end of the world either if you have other things to worry about (like chucking! lol)