Play Kitchens

Before your little one becomes the next MasterChef, they can hone their vegetable-chopping, stir-frying, and dishwashing skills in the pretend world with a play kitchen. These kitchen toys can recreate experiences in the home and introduce your kid to valuable life concepts.

What Is a Play Kitchen?

A play kitchen is exactly what it sounds like -- a kitchen for kids to play with. Designed for pint-sized chefs-to-be, kitchen play sets often feature appliances and elements you'd find in your own kitchen -- minus the electricity, of course. Many modern play kitchens are surprisingly realistic-looking, equipped with refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, and microwaves with doors that open and knobs that turn.

What Are the Benefits of Play Kitchens for Kids?

Play kitchens promote pretend play and can teach various concepts that can help your little one in the future:

Household Responsibility

Kids' kitchen sets can introduce little ones to core responsibilities of the home, including cooking and cleaning. While play kitchens don't offer the same functionality as real kitchens, they still allow young ones to mimic adults as they pretend to cook, plate meals, and wash dishes.

Teamwork

Kitchen play sets can encourage teamwork and sharing when young siblings or friends play together. Kids can work collectively to prepare meals and share responsibilities to reach a common goal, whether that's making lunch for the family or dishing out meals for a pretend restaurant.

Organization

After meal prep and play comes cleanup. A kitchen set for kids can teach tikes to stay tidy and organized, as they'll need to put away dishes, utensils, pots, and pans in their designated cupboards and drawers.

Counting and Vocabulary

Play kitchen sets offer a great opportunity for kids to expand their vocabulary and develop counting skills. Children can learn more about the various appliances and elements of a kitchen, and practice counting things like plates, cutlery, food.

What Ages Are Kitchen Play Sets Suitable For?

Many play kitchen sets are recommended for youngsters aged 3 and up, but you may find your little one drawn to one earlier or later on in life. Younger toddlers can develop fine motor skills as they learn to pick up smaller items like wooden food and utensils. Older kids can exercise their imagination and play out more elaborate pretend scenarios with these kitchen toys. The versatility of play kitchens means your child can grow with these toys as they get older.

What Accessories Can I Add to a Play Kitchen?

From wooden food to colourful dishes, the accessories for play kitchens abound. Many kitchen play sets only come with the main kitchen setup, so play kitchen accessories like pots, pans, food, and dishes are great additions to create the full pretend kitchen experience. Look for fun, themed sets like fruit and vegetables for the refrigerator, a faux coffee maker for the counter, or a frozen food play set for the freezer.

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