Plastic alternative play place settings?

[Juise]

For DD's 2nd birthday (early Feb) DH and my Dad are building her a Palumba-style play kitchen (I just love their kitchens!) and.. I can't figure out plates / cups / bowls, etc.. for it : \ The problem is, we're putting her kitchen in a handy nook in our kitchen.. while has a tile floor. I didn't think this was going to be a big issue, until I started looking around and can't seem to find anything. I would really like something to the relative extend of these Ikea bowls and plates and cups and saucers, which we have downstairs in our daycare area. I absolutely love them, and they have been amazingly resilient, the kids love them, and really enjoy occasionally getting to actually eat on them as something "special" to do. But the playhouse / kitchen downstairs is on carpet. The items that have gotten themselves upstairs have broken in a hurry.

I was looking for something wooden or enameled, I guess, maybe stainless steel.. anything safe, really She loves cooking, setting the table, and serving, and especially if she is playing with someone, I want there to be more than one set. I had heard Ikea had a nice enameled set, but they must not have it anymore because I can't find it.

What do you do for safe kitchen accesories that aren't terribly breakable or horribly expensive? All I really found was this site which is very cute but wwwaaayyy too expensive to stock a kitchenette with, and this set which is sooo cool, but, again, way to expensive.

[_Kira]

How about these? http://www.alextoys.com/products/132746?&n=0&va=t&/ They are a bit less expensive. I think they can also be bought through Amazon, but they might cost more there.

Good luck!

[Juise]

Wow I hadn't even found anything close to that thanks! I am hoping to find something with a little more to it if I can, though. Especially since I already have the Ikea set of tiny stainless steel silverware for her..

The only enameled set I have found that I have been particularly thrilled with, though, is this line: teapot + cups, pots, and cups, bowls, and plates. Which is way too much money to serve one, let alone at least four, which is what I would like.

So I have given up on the idea of non-breakable items. You know what, she's pretty careful, she's not the kind of kid that likes to break things on purpose, it happens sometimes, and that's really okay. I am going to try to find a nice rug or carpet square to go just under the kitchen to help with accidental bumps and then keep a nice, detached attitude to whatever I purchase

So! What are your recommendations of safe, relatively affordable, possibly breakable stoneware / glass / ceramic / porcelain / enameled / stainless steel / whatever dining / cooking sets?

I am hoping for: bowls, plates, teacups, saucers, teapot, possibly other cups, like drinking glasses as well. I have seen lots of stainless steel cooking sets, so I am not too worried about those, but I would like to have something other than the Ikea set we have downstairs if anyone has any suggestions of super cute ones

[Juise]

Is there somewhere else I ought to be posting this?

[E.V. Lowi]

Originally Posted by Juise

Is there somewhere else I ought to be posting this?

Maybe over in the Waldorf forum. They have a lot of resources over there, too.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

I got ds "tea cup" enameled ones from a camping supply store, I just got epresso cups.

he also has the green toys (recycled plastic milk jugs) tea set

we play with this plan toys tea set at a local cafe

ds has these melissa and doug wooden pans

these are cute too

we have this blender, but we bought it at a thrift store so it doesn't have the cups or food, but ds LOVES it

they have a coffee set too

ds also has a old percolator, that is metal, that we don't use, that I think I got at a thrift store, to use as a tea pot/coffee pot

I have a lot of good luck with thrift stores, often the "real" dishes/pans people get rid of are too "small" for regular cooking and better for play kitchens

I think I would just go to Ikea or Target and look in the "grown up" section for hardy smaller things

[sweetpeppers]

I have gotten many wooden and metal bowls at the thrift store. Definitely shop them before you spend money anywhere else. Also I've gotten wooden plates at AC Moore. You can get wooden salad/serving utensils at the dollar store.

[Masel]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

he also has the green toys (recycled plastic milk jugs) tea set

We have the plate and bowls set of these and they are really nice. Super sturdy. Dishwasher safe.

I bought some small bowls made of horn at Cost Plus World Market. They survived going camping.

You might check out a restaurant supply store for small stainless steel containers. The little dishes used for serving a dipping sauce might suit your purposes.

[brennan]

Melissa and Doug and Plan Toys both have nice kitchen stuff, and both brands are widely availible. Here's some examples of Plan toys stuff, the site from Canada, so the prices are not what you would pay in the US, but I don't know american sites!
http://www.ape2zebra.ca/plan-toys-kitchen-play-toys.asp

[LaughingHyena]

For small stainless steel bowls and plates try looking at the pet store. We've got several little bowls from there which we use for camping but also make nice kids bowls.

[dogretro]

I will agree w/ checking the thrift stores first and often. Most of dd's kitchen items came from the kitchen section of our local thrift store. She even has a tiny silver tea serving set that only cost $5! And a real working, albeit tiny, tea kettle. You can find the craziest stuff there.

[JacqNS]

Stainless steel cookware:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00130167

Stoneware tea set:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00130148

Metal baking set:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20130166

Stoneware plates and bowls:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40130165

Hope that helps!

[St. Margaret]

I would avoid M&D for play kitchen stuff b/c the paint chips and kids will inevitably put little cups and things in their mouths

Plan toys has nice wooden sets, or camping supply companies (try amazon) have cheap enamelare stuff. I just got some cups and they had other stuff at a montesorri site.

[boheime]

I got tired of only finding plastic or sets that I liked that were way too expensive for something that might break. I ended up making a set out of fabric. If you just want them for play and not actual eating, that might be an option.

ETA: fixed the link.

[amyatabes]

The company Green Toys has gorgeous toy dish sets, they are super affordable and all their stuff is made from recycled plastic milk jugs. Sounds like its what you might be looking for....