Play kitchen for a 3 1/2 yo boy?
My son has recently become interested in pretend cooking. He's always making waffles or eggs for us. So I figure maybe a play kitchen would be a good Christmas gift for him this year. And eventually it can be handed down to his younger sister.
So any recommendations for a play kitchen that is appropriate for boys? So many I see are pink and cater to little girls. I'm looking for a unisex one, that's of good quality and isn't terribly expensive.
7 Answers
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I saw a few wooden play kitchens at The Play Store in Palo Alto. They are in natural wood (not painted) and look gorgeous (and fun!).
http://www.playstoretoys.com
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Steve and Andrea, your answers and links inspired us to build our own playkitchen. I've uploaded some photos here on Flickr and the whole story here on my blog.
The project cost us around $90 total but it could have been cheaper (we bought everything new from Ikea and other places).
If anyone is interested I can give step-by-step instructions... Let me know.
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We bought my daughter a KidKraft kitchen a few years back. She and her friends have loved it. The quality is good- requires assembly. Now that she is almost 8, it does not get much use, sad to say. I liked that it was not blowmolded plastic-like everything else around.
It also comes in primary colors as well as pastel.
When she was in Kindergarten, the boys in her class used the kitchen at school far more than the girls- for a "restaurant". They were so cute with Chef hats, menus, check tablets, and all... I would definately recommend the brand.
http://www.kidkraft.com/toys-and-playsets/kitchens/kitchens/53139
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There's this kitchen by Alex which looks super-good (and unisex, with natural wood and primary colors).
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Here are some great instructions on how to build a play kitchen from Ikea parts and it looks great to me, if a bit of work.
If I remember right, the last time I was at Ikea, there were kid-sized kitchens placed here and there, but when I searched the catalog, I didn't see anything, so I suspect that they're made similarly to the way they describe in the article above.
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Another friend of ours has a Pottery Barn Kids Play Kitchen, but as you can expect, these cost just about as much as real kitchen appliances do.
There's also the older model but it seems to have been discontinued. Maybe you can find one used?
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Some pics of really neat homemade / cobbled together play kitchens on Ohdeedoh
My son loves cooking too! One great gift that a friend gave us - a Thomas the Train apron - adds to the cuteness :)
- andrea, Dec 8, 2009