I have been weighing up whether or not to buy Immy a home corner stove and sink for role play. At both the child care centre and preschools which I have worked in they are very, very popular pieces of equipment, especially with the 2-3 year olds. Immy is almost 17 months and she adores playing with the home corner at playgroup each week.
Currently at home she has a tea set and a shopping basket, some play pots and pans and pretend food, all of which she plays with daily, cooking up meals for her doll or plush cat or pouring me a cup of tea.
We don’t have a separate playroom, Immy has a corner of our loungeroom as her area, and so I really need one unit which integrates both the stove/oven and the sink and I would really prefer a wooden unit over a plastic one. I started looking around on the Internet for ideas.
This one by Education Works has everything we could possible need but is still a little large.
This Educo French Kitchen is very compact and has lots of nice wooden accessories but looks a bit unstable on those spindly legs and I am not sure about the tiny sink which looks like a bit of an afterthought.
Then I saw this beautiful french made Moulin Roty set, separate stove and sink but so lovely, that is until I saw the price, gasp!
So I think we are down to this one by Pintoys. Compact, wooden, sink, stove and oven – ticks all the boxes.
I would love to hear from any Mums who have bought a toy kitchen for their children. Was it good value for money? Did your children play with it alot? Any other brands, models, designs out there that I haven’t found yet?
Read more of Christie's adventures at http://childhood101.com.
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We have a "reconditioned" home corner. I happened to inherit a little kitchen dresser and stove that had been well loved in a preschool classroom. The pine timber was very shabby and stained, but a quick sand, lick of gloss white paint, new handles and "burners" brought them back to life! Cost = less than $20! Bargain. I also painted a little $5 op shop table to match which serves as "work space".
We have a kitchen in our playroom and it is used EVERY day by our daughter who just turned four (even our five-year-old son still likes to give it a workout) – you can check it out here – http://mumspace.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-sew-mini-curtains.html – we went with a wooden one from Toys R Us that was on sale for $150 a few years back and I think that was a huge bargain. That Moulin Roty set is just gorgeous isn't it? The Pintoy one looks great for a family space! I LOVE the DIY ones you see around the web – check some of these out – http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/toys-kids/roundup-diy-play-kitchens-069808. Have fun!
We bought our girls a KidKraft kitchen a few years ago and it is a toy that has stood the test of time. It is nice if you can put the set near a small table and chairs. Their favorite activity right now is cooking for their "babies"and feeding them at the table. Here is a link to some nice KidKraft sets: http://astore.amazon.com/kidkraft-kitchen-20/
I don't see the one we have – but personally I like the Prairie Kitchen
funny, I just saw these on my reader, if you scroll down there is a very cute pink and green one.
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
hi christie,
thank you so much for your kind comment! i'm so glad you like the mobile. i appreciate that you noticed its simplicity since that was what i was aiming for.
we have the educo french kitchen, and while it is a tiny bit on the flimsy side, we love how compact and small it is. for us, buying the bigger and more expensive versions felt like a big commitment. plus, the educo comes with really cute accessories (pots, pans, mushrooms, a carrot, etc.) and it is accented with a really nice green.
good luck! and, thanks, again, for your comment!
xo emily
red bird crafts
http://kinderen-speelgoed.aanbodpagina.nl/grote-houten-combikeuken-wasmachine-gratis-bez
Hello, We have got this one. It's a kitchen and a waching unit in one. My children love it. There is also a little microwave/oven. And there is space next to the stove and on top of the microwave/shelves. I thought this is the most value for our money. The brand is: Allehand. And in Dutch it is called a keuken(tje) = kitchen (little kitchen).
I hope I could be helpfull.
Greetings, Charlie.