toy kitchen

[galincognito]

i'm sure there have been posts about this before but for some reason i can't find them!!

anyway, we want to get our kids a kitchen for christmas but i'm not totally sure where to start. my only requirement at this point is that it's of a sufficient size for the two of them to play together.

what are your favorites or least favorites and why??

[WindyCityMom]

I know there's a toy kitchen thread somewhere around here Don't know where though! I think that since it's a new season it's a great idea to start another one up.

Anyhow- were you wanting a wooden one, or a plastic one?

I really love the ones from Nova Natural, in particular, this one.

If you're going for plastic, I think the Step2 Kitchens are pretty sturdy We purged plastic but last year we had this one (got it for $35 though). Very cheap plastic, ridiculously hard to put together, but lasted us a good 6 months without breaking before we sold it at our garage sale There's also a cheaper version of it here in case anyone is looking for a real bargain

[SunshineJ]

We got one for our kids a few years ago. I'm thinking DD was about 2 1/2, ao DS would have been 4 1/2. Some of the plastic ones were REALLY neat with all that they could do and such! And it was tempting. But in addition to having a space large enough for both of them to play, I was looking for something that would last more than a couple of years and keep their interest. We got the "Kidkraft Large Kitchen" from TRU. This was 4 years ago, and they didn't have as large a selection of the wooden ones as they do now. Dad said we were wasting our money, but they both played with it constantly for the first year, and she for the 2nd year as well. They're now 6 and 8, and he couldn't care less about it, but it still grabs her attention once a month or so, sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm not sure the plastic ones would've done that - she'd have outgrown the neato bells and whistles by now. The one big thing to keep in mind is that some of them are very tiny as in short, so check that out before you choose one.

[rightkindofme]

If you have any kind of access to a wood shop I recommend Grace's Kitchen by Ana White. That's what we have for our daughter and she thinks it's the best thing ever. (We extended the counters on each side to give more working space.) It's awesome because it's fully customizable. I kind of worship Ana White.

[Mrs. Bratton]

We have this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Life...i_sku=10982709 and have been very happy with it. It is definitely big enough for 2 to play with. It is a little high, so we had to get my 18 mo a step stool for it but she is almost 2 now and growing into it nicely. I don't know what price rage you are looking at but I saw an awesome one online for $250. It was by Step 2 and it was a huge walk-in kitchen. I love it but we dont have that kind of room.

[PPK]

We got this one for DS when he was maybe 18 months, and he played with it *everyday* for at least 6months. Now he's 3 and he still uses it for random play with all his other toys, not as intensively, but definatley is still his "hub" of action.

Well worth it!!!

The link is to Kidkraft, but I think we got ours from a retailer on ebay and they were only 3 hrs from us so shipping was reasonable (remember these things are hefty so factor shipping on different sites).

http://www.kidkraft.com/toys-and-pla...kitchens/53139

[grumpybear]

This is what we have from Kidcraft. Just a little over $100 and with free shipping from Amazon, can't really beat it.

http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53181...4362723&sr=1-3

[staceychev]

nak (well, pak...)

We have one that looks like this, but my FIL made it. It's a good size, height-wise: my 5YO and her friends still fit it fine. Some plastic ones are smaller. It works fine for co-play since they tend to spread out to the coffee table and surrounding area. Because it's in a common area and not a kids-only room, I like that it's stained like real furniture.

[ann_of_loxley]

IKEA toy kitchen! lol

[phathui5]

We got our wooden one from Discount School Supply. They have a good selection on their website.

[mamadelbosque]

I wanted to get ds1 a nice wooden kitchen, but dh didn't think he'd play with it :boggle Eventually my mom ran across a step-2 kitchen at a garage sale and picked it up for us. The boys both love it

[Dingletwitz]

Dd is super happy with the Ikea kitchen. She and I can easily play together at it, even though it is much smaller than many of the super cute cool ones.

[SunshineJ]

Originally Posted by grumpybear

This is what we have from Kidcraft. Just a little over $100 and with free shipping from Amazon, can't really beat it.

http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-53181...4362723&sr=1-3

Yep that's the one we have!

[Violet2]

We made our own play kitchen and it turned out lovely.

If you are crafty, making your own would be a good option.

V

[curiouscanadian]

Another craft option is this cardboard kitchen. I'm just about to start one for DS.

[Coconut Chronicles]

We have the Ikea play kitchen and DS loves it

[galincognito]

thanks for the replies! i'm not necessarily set on it being wood vs. plastic but more what's going to be the most durable. i guess i have some websurfing to do now!