Which Play Kitchen to Buy!

We were given the Dora the Explorer kitchen last Christmas from my Aunt for my daughter who is now almost 3. She has loved it. I especially like it being plastic because my daughter went through a phase where she would sneak her snacks and some times her lunches into her room and "cook" with her real food. So needless to say the kitchen got REALLY dirty and I had to take it apart and wash all the pieces. It was even really easy to get everything back together without having the instructions to do it with. I don't have any experience with the wood kitchens but I do know we love this one!

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-H1581-Fisher-Price%C2%...

Depends on how much money you want to spend. I plan on getting the Grand Walk in Kitchen next year for my daughter but it costs $260.

So it is up to you...they range from $99 to $260.

Step 2 has GREAT kitchens that is where we bought her Sweetheart Playhouse.

http://www.step2.com/kitchens/index.cfm

We got a wooden childcraft from a friend who was moving. Love it! My daughter just turned 2 and we've had it about half a year now. We keep it in our kitchen so she can "cook" like mama. The boys play with it too ;)

N.,

It depends on your child and your house. We have one large little tykes kitchen with the microwave that beeps, faucet that has running water noise, and a kitchen window that the kids try to crawl through and it's pretty popular (all the buttons and sounds are anyway) and can be sprayed down with the Lysol hard surface spray/ bleach/ hose, etc. We were given a second (more detailed and expensive) wooden set from my sister with a cabinet and 'fridge/freezer combo but no noises and my daughter seems to prefer that when she plays alone and organizes the food and brings the babies to eat there.

NOT PLASTIC - did I say that loudly enough? :) With wood, when it starts falling apart or leaning sideways - you can screw or nail or reinforce. With plastic, you have to throw it out.

Beyond that, I have nothing to recommend - my grandfather made mine out of plywood and I got to help paint it... the head start schools around here use one from Kidcraft, I think. They're crazy expensive.

Just not plastic.

In my experience with play kitchens, the thick plastic ones last a lot longer. Also, you can take them outside in the summertime and let the kids make mudpies, playdough cookies, etc and then hose it out.

I'm guessing that the plastic one is easier to keep clean...also if you don't want to spend a lot, call this lady in Flower Mound...she has been collecting Little Tikes stuff for years and she sells it from her backyard. She usually has lots of kitchen sets and is very reasonable: Judy Moore
###-###-#### or ###-###-####. Good luck,
T. L.

We looked around for a long time too and came down to the Pottery Barn kids kitchen. It is really well made and has held up nicely. The problem is that it is pricey. The reason we went with the very expensive is because we knew it would get lots of use from our kids and others who came to visit and we love having friends over. It looks nicer than our own kitchen!

I know there are a TON of choices out there now. My daughter is 12 now. When she was 2, one of her bday gifts was a Little Tykes PLASTIC kitchen.

That was one of the best toys she had. We gave the kitchen set to our neighbors who have 3 girls under 5, 2 yrs ago and it stays outside, underneath the "fort" part of their wooden playset. It is still being used and has heldup very well. This set gets a lof of play from close neighbors as well.

We bought a Little Tykes, red car at 7 months old that she LOVED. It was played with at our home with a lot of neighbor children. We built our current house 7 yrs ago and gave the car among some other Little Tyke products to neighbors. All of the products are still being used! It's funny, the car is now at a house 3 doors down with twins STILL being used. It has been with 4 children of close neighbors for 7 yrs now. !!

Needless to say, we got our money's worth plus with Little Tykes products.

Susan

We have the LifeStyle™ Deluxe Kitchen. My kids love it. It is $199 dollars on their website. They have other great ones in different price ranges. They are all durable and fun.

My daughter has the Step 2 plastic one and she loves it! It's extremely durable and easy to clean too!

We just found a great wooden one on ebay. Looks like Pottery Barn kitchen, but half the price. It's the retro kitchen by KidKraft. The wooden ones seem to hold up better. We purchased this one to replace our plastic Barbie kitchen.

My mom just got the cutest kitchen for my one-year-old daughter. It looks just like the retro kitchen from Pottery Barn, but where their's is $649 for the set, this one is $150! It's by KidKraft, and it's wooden & durable. Plus it's pink, so how could it be cuter? :-) It's available at Costco, and in the store my mom said is was $150, but the website says $179, so I don't know.

Here's the link:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11135553...

Good Luck!
S.