When we found out that our 1 year old, Jin, really loves the toy kitchen at nursery and often plays with pots & pans and fake food, we thought, oh no! he’s graduated his ‘baby toys’ and we didn’t even realise. And so begain our search for his first role play toy!
Role Play Toys Out There
There are so many role play toys to choose from, but we had to choose just one.
Here are some that caught my eye – all of them are colourful, fun and come with lots of props to play with.
The manufacturer advises these products are 18 months+ or 3 years+ but younger toddlers can definitely have fun with these and grow into them, as long as the items are safe eg. put any pointy or unsuitably small items away until they’re a little older.
Our Decision – A Toy Kitchen
As much as I love all of these toys, we decided to get a kitchen because it mirrored what he enjoyed at nursery and we wanted to extend that to home.
Finding A Toy Kitchen
I feel like I’ve seen every toy kitchen out there online – here’s a selection of the ones I came across:
Amazon
Price Range: £30-100
Brands: Too many to list!
Style: Something for everyone – colourful, chunky plastic, wood but also sleek and realistic kitchens
Kidly
Price Range: £35-180
Brands: Little Dutch, Classic World, Sebra…
Style: Wood, natural, minimalistic, more high-end with a price tag to match
Argos
Price Range: £30-169
Brands: Chad Valley, Teamson, KidKraft…
Style: Something for everyone – colourful, chunky plastic or wood but also sleek and realistic kitchens (the £269 one in this pic looks so real!)
They also have a Mud Kitchen and Peppa Pig Kitchen!
Smythstoys
Price Range: £30-100
Brands: Little Chef, Molto, Miele…
Style: Colourful busy looking kitchens at a good price
❤ Asda
Price Range: £35-150
Brands: George Asda only
Style: Wooden, light colours in various sizes and combinations at a great price
John Lewis
Price Range: £35-150
Brands: Bigjigs, John Lewis, Smoby…
Style: Classy and realistic, neutral colours but a couple of bright ones too.
They also have mud kitchens!
Scandibørn
Price Range: £50-190
Brands: Sebra, Flexa Rose, Kids Concept…
Style: The ultimate neutral Scandinavian style kitchens
Which Kitchen Style Is For You?
Bright Bold Plastic | Amazon, Smythstoys |
Wooden, Simple and Natural | Geroge Asda, Argos, John Lewis |
Sleek and Realistic | Amazon, Argos |
High-End Minimalistic Modern | Kidly, Scandiborn |
Our Vote Goes To Asda
George Home, Wooden Toy Kitchen with Washing Machine
£65 @George Asda
Product Link
Here’s the final product with accessories we purchased separately.
What You Need to Know
Target Age | 3 Years plus We chose to let our 15 month old play with this because he has a similar kitchen at nursery, which he adores. There are no risky items for his age group and he always plays under our supervision. |
Whats In The Box | Microwave cupboard with painted on buttons Washing Machine cupboard with controls and removable detergent draw 2 Cupboards – 1 with a shelf Hob with removable rings which can be turned for hot or cool colours Sink with copper taps that turn Shelf above the hob with painted on utencils Little window and curtain |
Dimensions When Built | H94 W86.5 D29cm | Weight 18.85kg |
Material | Wood |
Assembly | Arrives as a flat pack ‘+’ Screwdriver required Instructions – easy to follow and all pieces are numbered with a sticker to guide you Time to Build – Just over 1 hour, longer if you’re not a regular flat pack builder No. of People to Build – Just one |
Why I Love It
❤ Variety It has a bit of everything – cooker, microwave, washine machine but also enough surface and cupboards to play with. All this and still manages to be compact |
Design Colours are neutral but not too plain. The copper handles and taps add that extra style |
Size Its compact enough to fit in our small apartment but still has a lot going on and room to place lots of props |
Storage We have so many food props, we keep the box in the cupboard along with other toys. Extra storage! |
Longevity As Jin grows, he may find different ways to play with this kitchen and accessories so as long as he stays interested, he could play with it for potentially years |
Toy Kitchen Accessories
All of the stores I’ve listed in the table above also sell accessories like pots & pans, fake plastic food etc. but after a few comparisons and also considering the price, we chose these two bundles to start with:
Chad Valley Wooden Pots and Pans Play Set
£10 @Argos (Part of a 2 for £15 deal with the food set)
Product Link
This is an adorable simple wooden set with lovely colours. They’re lightweight, well made and a good size for little hands.
Dimensions:
Base of Pot & Pan – W11 H4.5cm
Utensils – L14cm
Chad Valley 120 Piece Play Food Set
£10 @Argos (Part of a 2 for £15 deal with the pot & pan set)
Product Link
I think I’m missing a cabbage and cucumber slices here because Jin’s already had a go and was throwing them all over the place! But otherwise there are 120 pieces, excellent value!
Why I Love It
❤ Variety 120 pieces! There are so many things here and you dont have to use all at once. Play with just a few of them then rotate every now and again |
Quality Most of the items are so well made like the lemons, cans, condimetns and Sainsbury’s branded cartons, I mean, they’re exactly like the real thing in the store! The tomatoes and strawberries could do with a but of green on the top but the kids wont care! |
Storage When you lay it all out like this it looks like so much but once you pile it all back into its original box, it pretty compact |
Price For 120 pieces AND the 2 for £15 offer, this is amazing value |
The One Thing I Was A Little Disappointed About
The cookies and chocolate come in half molds like this – such a shame because they actually look really realistic if it wasn’t for the hollowness! I don’t think a child would care about this though!
Final Thoughts
With Christmas around the corner, we thought about buying it in December but we have a feeling that these sorts of toys are going to be in high demand so we snapped it up early.
We really love this toy kitchen but more importantly, Jin is enjoying it everyday.
He’s still figuring it out and once he’s a little taller, he’ll be able to comfortably reach the microwave and shelf but until then, he makes a lot of fried eggs and chicken stews (^_^)
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I don’t suppose you have the assembly instructions for the wooden kitchen. Just went to build ours tonight and it’s come with no instructions. Stressing how I’m gonna get it built for Christmas.