Play kitchen for 9 yo DD?

[*bejeweled*]

Hi, I really want to get DD a beautiful wooden play kitchen? But she's going to be 9 years old. When she was younger she was given a plastic Dora one that she played with a lot, but I've always wanted to give her a beautiful wooden one. What do you think? Is she too old for it?

Could you recommend one? Thanks.

[LynnS6]

Personally, I think she's too old for it. For one thing, most play kitchens (even beautiful wooden ones) are short.

At 9, what I'd get her instead would be some lovely real cooking equipment of her own, and have her cook with you, or sign her up for some cooking classes. At 9, she's old enough to cook with a real stove/oven, and I think that would be more appealing to an older child.

[*bejeweled*]

You're probably right.

Originally Posted by LynnS6 

Personally, I think she's too old for it. For one thing, most play kitchens (even beautiful wooden ones) are short.

At 9, what I'd get her instead would be some lovely real cooking equipment of her own, and have her cook with you, or sign her up for some cooking classes. At 9, she's old enough to cook with a real stove/oven, and I think that would be more appealing to an older child.

[nextcommercial]

I agree... Target has some very beautiful cooking sets for kids...but, they are nice enough that even an adult could use them.

Jiffy makes small baking mixes that aren't a whole cake, but just the perfect size for a couple of friends or a small family.

[pianojazzgirl]

I was going to make the same suggestion.

What about enrolling the two of you in a cooking class together?  Maybe make it a gift complete with an apron and kid-friendly cookbook for her?  A set of cute cookie cutters might make a nice gift as well.

[Mummoth]

Company's Coming makes kids recipe books. Do you have an electric griddle? I'm more comfortable allowing the kids to cook with ours than using the stovetop, because the element is enclosed... they can still accidentally touch a hot surface, but not as hot. Pancakes are a fun thing to do because there's lots of egg-cracking, mixing, pouring and flipping to do. For kitchen supplies... a mini cupcake tray/mini bread loaf trays, heart-shaped cake mold, food colouring, sprinkles & decorations, maybe a small icing pipe? Also, don't underestimate her interest in doing anything in the kitchen... my DD likes helping make salad, peeling & mashing potatoes, grating cheese, stirring a pot... she will even wash dishes (okay, mostly just the implements she used to do something interesting, but still. I don't have to wash the salad spinner? WIN!)

This isn't exactly the same, but it ties in... what about a tea set? At her age I'd get an adult-sized one, not a play one, but I bet she'd like to extend the fun of making cookies or sandwiches by having a tea party now and then. I have a child's china tea set that DD likes to play with... she's just 7 but the interest in tea parties isn't waning, and the 10 year old I watch after school seems to enjoy them, too. I've thought of getting a bigger set where everything matches, because if I try to get lazy & just use the regular mugs and tea pot they aren't interested. A table cloth & cloth napkins would probably go over well, too.

[mamazee]

My 9-year-old still plays with our play kitchen a lot, even when she's not playing with the 2-year-old. But it's a bit old maybe to start using one - given how expensive they are, it might not get used long enough to warrant the expense. And yes, my 9-year-old does lots of cooking at this point. Also, easy bake oven style things might be popular.

[*bejeweled*]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses!

[prancie]

Yes, I was coming on to reply that your real kitchen can be her play kitchen now!  I remember baking mostly unsupervised (I'm sure my mom kept an eye on me when I wasn't looking) at age 8 or so.  

You could get her some good cookbooks, and I think a lot of kids would like Alton Brown's "Good Eats" show.  

[meemee]

bejeweled - walk the safety talk with dd - about knives and heat and burns.

dd has been using the real deal since she was 6. she got to do it unsupervised when i had full confidence that she knew what the rules of cooking were and following them and also what to do in an emergency (cut - put pressure on the cut for at least 5 mins, burn hold under running tap water until burn hurt goes away). 

if your dd is really interested in cooking ask her to surf youtube. that's how dd found her first favourite cooking show - its cooking with dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_hbPLsZvvo there are many more like that on youtube that show you how to do beginner ones.

dd's favourite cooking show is alton brown (coz he's funny and insistent and most important he explains the why. she loves that he touches on chemistry and culture).

welcome to a whole new world.

btw dd's first kitchen item was an apron we both designed and made together and she loved it. for a while till i got her a new proper chef's apron and a knife. now she is getting lessons about how to sharpen knives. 

sundays dd does most of the cooking. she loves it and i am sure your dd will to. involve her in the planning of a meal. give her the money and let her buy the ingredients and make choices of which one to buy (i was pleasantly surprised at what better decisions dd makes than me). 

[MaJoie]

I agree at 9 she's probably too old for a play kitchen. I baked my first cake from scratch using a cookbook at 7, with my mother supervising, of course. Basically she explained what it meant to add liquid and dry ingredients alternately. At 9 I made the whole dinner for our family of 7 with my mother present, but I did all the cooking and dishing out, setting the table, etc. I remember going to a birthday party at 8 yo and feeling really sorry for my friend. Her mother bought a bakery cake. I thought her mother didn't love her enough to bake her a cake. I really had no idea everyone didn't do things the way our family did.

I had all our kids in the kitchen to "help" as soon as they could stand on a chair and reach the counter. I measured, kids poured and stirred. My oldest is now sou-chef in a vegan restaurant.

I realize a lot of folks don't do everything from scratch but frankly I don't think it's much different to make a cake from scratch or use a boxed mix-just a couple of more things to measure-and avoid all the weird stuff they put in the box to make it shelf stable.

My mother actually learned to cook and sew in her home economics classes in high school. I don't think boxed mixes even existed then. By the time I took home ec they were teaching how to make a cake with a mix. Yikes. I'd been baking from scratch for years. My mother also taught me to sew. The way they did things inhome-ec class seemed very tedious to me-more picky stuff than necessary.

[mamazee]

I am very sad to say that boxed cake mixes have been around since the 1920s. But I have good thoughts about her family and cooking skills knowing she isn't up on cake mix history. LOL. Otherwise, I agree with the PP. :D

[JudiAU]

At nine, I could cook dinner for a family of four unsupervised. I think it is time to get her involved with the real stuff.

And if you want something more of a toy, consider an Easy Bake Oven. I loved that thing at the same age and so do my nieces.

If you do want a traditional toy option, you might consider The Little Kitchen on easy, by MamaMadeIt nor similar. Solid wood but portable. And the Haba wooden food is the type that scales to any older child most easily. Or have her make her own.

[*bejeweled*]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm going with the Easy Bake Oven!

eta: Maybe. It has mixed reviews......
Edited by *bejeweled* - 11/7/11 at 7:23am

[sobevt]

i dont see why she wouldent love one. We bought a great one from kid craft for 200$ my kids never really "loved" it but sounds like yours did. Ive seen kids that age play with them for long periods of time.

[tinuviel_k]

My daughter is 9, and she really outgrew her play kitchen by age 6.5 or so. We got her an Easy Bake oven at age 6, and that was fun for about 1 month! The mixes didnt taste good, all the food was sugary, and the stuff was pretty bad ingredient-wise. After the novelty wore off she really wanted to learn to make real cakes, with actual technique, not just dump-and-stir.

She is very interested in real cooking, and can do scrambled eggs solo and has recently mastered smoothie making in the Vita Mix! She is learning supervised knife safety, and is very excited to learn how to make all kinds of soups this winter.

It is a little tricky because at this point she wants to play and experiment a lot, and I don't always have the time and energy to supervise. But nothing less than real cooking will hold her interest, so the play kitchen was given to a friend.

[Jessica1501]

Amazon has some children's knifes which can cut veggies and soft fruits. I think your DD can help mommy wash vegetables and cut, this is fun and doesn't require much supervise.
 

[*bejeweled*]

Hi, OP here. We decided not to get the play kitchen. Instead, we got her a really cool knife that's not so sharp and she's been helping me in the big kitchen a lot.