Toddler parents, there’s no shame in agonizing over the right play kitchen. After all, it’s going to be on display for the next several years, and hopefully provide your child with hours and hours of brain-boosting play time.
Your kids’ kitchen set is also a significant investment. Obviously, you want to choose something with enough features to keep them entertained as well as something that’s durable enough to stand up to regular abuse use.
What are the benefits of a kids’ play kitchen?
From a developmental standpoint, play kitchens offer a wealth of benefits. They inspire little ones to use their imagination and get creative as they whip up meal after meal. They help build vocabulary as they narrate scenarios and cooperate with friends and siblings. Fine motor skills get a boost as they chop, mix, pour and stir. Personally, I credit my daughter’s with granting me untold amounts of peace to drink my morning coffee–a benefit I’d pay a pretty penny for nine times over.
What is the best age for a kids’ kitchen set?
One of the best things about play kitchens is that they appeal to a wide range of ages. Toddlerhood is definitely the sweet spot, but many parents find their kids are interested from as early as 18 months and consistently play with it until they’re eight or nine years old.
With that in mind, you want to choose a model they’re not going to outgrow too quickly. To make your life a bit easier, we’ve rounded up some of our personal favorites along with a few others that get high ratings from kids and parents alike. Now all you have to do is work on your pretend eating skills because you’re about to be served a lot of plastic meals. Mmmmmm. Delicious!
KidKraft
Uptown Elite Espresso Play Kitchen with EZ Kraft Assembly
With its stylish backsplash and “marble” countertop the Uptown Elite Espresso Play Kitchen from KidKraft is like a scaled down version of the real deal. But more importantly, this play kitchen’s features are so fun! It comes with ice cubes for the dispensable ice machine, the stovetop makes a heating noise and lights when you turn the knobs (which is nice to teach kids that stoves get HOT!) and the sink makes noise when you turn the knobs! My 1.5 year-old does not get tired of the paper towel rack or opening the myriad of cabinets. This kitchen has led to more independent-play, which I’m so thankful for.
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