Resources for Stocking the Play Kitchen

[TSomm]

My little girl is turning 2 soon and we'll be building her a play kitchen.  We're asking the relative to help us stock the play kitchen with play food, pots and pans, etc.  What have you found to be the best toys?  Melissa & Doug?  Plan toys?  Help me think outside the box, too.  Maybe a chef hat and apron?  What else?

She loves tea sets too - anyone have a favorite?

Thanks for your input!

[Asiago]

Oh, good question I also am searching. Unfortunately most of the things I have found are choking hazards. There is not much out there for the 'under 3' group. I did find some from Step 2 that are for 2 yrs and up, therefore those are not choking hazards.

[ErinYay]

We got a bunch of the M&D wooden stuff last year, and I am *not* impressed. The paint is chipping off a lot of the food and she doesn't even play with it. 

The felt sandwich set they make is pretty awesome, though. But, of course, she doesn't play with that, either.

[mrscookie]

my little boy and his friend love the cutting fruit set from M&D. otherwise, i like the ikea play kitchen, and they have some cute pots and pans. etsy has some nice felted fruit and vegetable items. 

[ErinYay]

Oh! I do *not* recommend HABA foods for kids who are at all interested in putting toys in their mouths. The bits are very teensy and cute, but very choke-able.

Our 2-year-old is very "mouthy" and I'm hesitant to give her the HABA pizza set my mom got her. It's adorable, but will require *constant* supervision.

[wishin'&hopin']

We actually just give our guy (19 months) dry pasta noodles and a bunch of things he can pour them into or stir them in (we have the green toys sauce pot/frying pan set).  He loves it, and clean ups easy b/c the dog has a thing for dry pasta--so no sweeping necessary ;)

[grethel]

We have the ikea stainless pots and pans set and the green toys dishes set and love them both. Sturdy, cute, easy to play with - and they get a lot of plsy. DD also has the M&D cutting food set and she and all the kids who come to play use it a lot. I don't think it's the most well-made - we just got it for her bday in October and the paint is already chipping off some pieces. But she really does like it.

[cloudbutterfly]

Another vote here for the Ikea pots and pans.  Also, the fabric fruits and veggies at Ikea are great and really cheap.  We have a lot of M&D stuff that we like (not much paint chipping for us as of yet), especially the condiment bottles and the birthday cake, and DS is another fan of the cutting fruit of any brand.  I found some non-choking hazard wooden eggs (made in the USA, even) on Amazon, but I can't remember the brand name.  We also like his Kid Kraft blender...had to get that so he could make his own green smoothies.  (Note:  DS is long past the putting-in-the-mouth stage, so I can't speak to the choking hazard issue on any of that.)

We have this tea set:  http://www.amazon.com/Dantoy-GA4382-Tea-Time/dp/B000TFKYFC  Nice, bright, and gender neutral.  The spoons are  a little small, so I put them away for now.  We also have some stainless steel coffee cups and a pitcher from Ikea (and also a couple of trays to serve the tea on).  I was going to try to get him a stainless steel teapot, but never found one I liked that was also small and cheap enough.

I keep my eyes out for real kitchen equipment that's small enough for the play kitchen.  Ikea has some small wooden and metal bowls that are perfect, and my mom got him a small colander.  The baking sheet for our toaster oven and our smallest cutting board have migrated to his kitchen.  That sort of thing.  We have the Ikea plastic kids dishes, bowls and cups for his play kitchen, too.

I've also gotten into making my own felt food recently.  I'm not a great sewer, but it's all turning out really cute.  I work on it while I'm watching TV.  There are lots of great how-tos online.

One recommendation on the actual kitchen:  if you have a water dispenser on your fridge door, and you make a fridge as part of the kitchen, try to put one on the play kitchen fridge.  We've had a lot of really entertaining imaginative play come out of that.  Most recently, he decided one side dispenses tea, and the other side dispenses cake.  I wish we could patent that.   :-)

Oh, and a lot of his favorite stuff came out of our recycling bin.  It's fun for him to be able to cook with the products we actually use.

[SunRise]

My daughter is also getting a kitchen for Christmas (IKEA kitchen)

The IKEA utensil set looks really nice/real. (we were just there on the weekend)

I bought her this adorable apron on ETSY

Some felt food (on ETSY)

I am collecting small containers as well - 1/2&1/2 carton for milk, 6 egg carton, etc. (Wooden eggs are sold on ETSY). Little jars.

The IKEA pots and pans and glasses are sweet and useable - my 21 month year old daughter spent half an hour at the IKEA kitchen playing with all the stuff.

I think a combination of soft food (like felt) and hard food (wooden stuff, cardboard etc) makes things a bit more real and interesting. Definitely a pot, mixing bowl and spoon for stirring.
 

[*Aimee*]

My boys LOVE this M&D set http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Magnetic-Kitchen-Collection/dp/B000GL1HV4/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i They play with them constantly, even when not playing in the kitchen. I like their wooden pots and pans too. http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Kitchen-Accessory/dp/B000VWQ6C8/ref=pd_sim_t_3 We also have felt food. I have a few old spice containers that I put peppercorns in and hot glue gunned the lid on so they can shake it, but not spill it because my boys would make a huge constant mess with that haha!

[justKate]

I've been collecting small boxes from food and small bottles to stock DD's kitchen.  "Travel sizes" are great, raisin boxes, soap boxes; also those small boxes of crackers, etc. from Walgreens-type stores.  I tape the boxes closed and superglue the lids on the little bottles.  You can put beads or dried beans in the bottles before gluing them shut.

[TSomm]

You guys are great!  I love all your tips, suggestions, and recommendations.  I come from a very traditional, "what can i buy her at kids r us" kinda family, so recommending etsy or their own ideas is so hard.  Thanks!  Keep the ideas comin', if you have them!

[Dot-to-Dot]

Another vote for the IKEA pots and pans.  I also love their food sets and the fact that they have stuff like a head of lettuce, leeks and garlic.  My foodie daughter makes mean felt garlic and leek soup.  I save containers (mac and cheese, olive jars, old spice shakers that I won't use because they're expired but I leave the spices in).  I tape it all up and she loves these real life containers the most.  She especially loves the to-go coffee cups of varying sizes and usually starts everyday by making me a coffee and a birthday cake. The Green Toys tea set is wonderful, too.