New suggestions- toddler play kitchen

[Dazedstella]

My daughter loves the old plastic play kitchen my parents bought for their house- it's the old model little tikes type play kitchen. They don't make that anymore and all of the play kitchens- wooden or plastic have age recommendations of 2.5 or 3 and up. She is almost 15 months. There is one that is for her age range but it seems kind of lame- small, have to set it on a table top, less stuff going on. She really has gotten into pretend play- she was stirring the pot on the stove and drinking from it and offering it to her nana. So I would like to find one that will interest her and have some longevity but they all have small parts warnings. Any good suggestions?

[rvamommy]

Ikea has a nice one. If I remember correctly, it is about $120, made of wood and plastic, and has a sink, fridge, cabinets, and oven, all in one.

[wondertwins]

Probably not what you had in mind, but I commissioned (payment being the joy in his grandchildrens eyes!) my FIL to build a kitchen for my twins. There are a ton of DIY examples and even plans for play kitchens online. This way I was able to choose the materials that went into the kitchen and make it as elaborate or not (in our case I wanted it super simple) as I liked. I have seen pictures of play kitchens built out of old entertainment centers, and the one I chose used mostly Ikea products. I guess it helps that DH comes from a line of carpenters so of course my FIL had all the necessary tools.

From what I've seen of other children's play kitchens, and most were purchased by or before the LO's turned 2, the warnings are more to cover the company than age appropriate. I've never been uncomfortable with my twins playing with any kitchen we've come across, it seems that the "not for children under 3" rating, IMHO, is overused.
HTH

[spmamma]

We have a KidKraft Prairie Play Kitchen and DD loves it. I've also seen the Ikea play kitchen and it's super cute too!

[Chamomile Girl]

We have the Educo play kitchen and it seems like a perfect fit for my 12mo old. We had to secure it in the back though so he couldn't pull it over since he likes to pull up on it. We also put the wooden mushrooms up until he stops putting them in his mouth.

Here he is

[ellemenope]

KidKraft Silver Retro Kitchen

DD got this one at 18 months. It is incredibly well made and nice looking. We wanted something that left a lot to the imagination, had a lot of storage space, and was under 100 dollars. (It was a christmas gift from grandparents) It was 99 dollars right before christmas.

DD loved it right from the beginning. Had no issue with opening the doors or drawer and the age rec is 3+.

[busymama77]

Originally Posted by ellemenope

KidKraft Silver Retro Kitchen

DD got this one at 18 months. It is incredibly well made and nice looking. We wanted something that left a lot to the imagination, had a lot of storage space, and was under 100 dollars. (It was a christmas gift from grandparents) It was 99 dollars right before christmas.

DD loved it right from the beginning. Had no issue with opening the doors or drawer and the age rec is 3+.

That is super cute, ellemenope!!!

[XanaduMama]

We've had this one since ds was about 2.5, and it's been a HUGE hit. They both (4.5 and 2) still love to play with it.

http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53181...8556396&sr=8-1

[JessieBird]

We have the Ikea one with the hutch that you can buy separately. It is less than $200 for both pieces and it's suprisingly (IMO for Ikea) very high quality. I can't remember what age range the package says but there are no small parts other than some little hooks that can be easily removed. We bought it for DS's first birthday and he loves it. Bonus is the styling - if your home is more modern or you just don't want something that looks like a typical toy, this kitchen looks great!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70129801

Two tips: the magnets on the cupboard doors are really strong, so strong that my DS can't open the doors. A few layers of masking tape over the magnets weakens them. And the batteries are not necessary. If you put them in, watch that the stove elements don't get left on - 6 AAs is a lot of batteries to chew through.

There is a long and very thorough thread all about kitchen recommendations that has been added to over several years - it's either in this forum or in the general parenting one. A quick search should turn it up. It's excellent and worth a look!

[ThisCat]

***

[seagull]

We gave a plastic Little Tikes one to my 14 month old. She loved it. We just didn't include the silverware or fridge magnets. Everything else was age appropriate sizes.