An important part in getting children interested in cooking is exposing them to the kitchen at a young age. Whether you have kids of your own or are looking to find a gift for one, wooden kitchen sets for children are great on many levels.
Take these factors into account when comparing wooden play kitchens for your children.
Educational
Most wooden kitchen play sets are designed for an age range of 2-6 years old. At the earlier ages there are hands-on opportunities for children to increase their manual dexterity by using the knobs, drawers, wooden kitchen utensils, and accessories that come with wooden kitchen playsets. As the children using the wooden toy kitchen sets get older, they have a better sense for how the real-kitchen items are used and can play-cook in their toy kitchen. Since wooden cooking utensils are fairly affordable, it is easy to add them to the kids cooking utensils in the play kitchen, providing an opportunity for children to get hands-on experience with the actual wooden utensils they might end up using when they are old enough to cook for real.
Many different pretend play kitchens on the market also come with something as simple as a clock. The kind of clock with hands that the child can move on their own. Speaking as someone who has had people ask to look at my watch, stare blankly as they realize it isn’t digital, and fumble to access that part of their brain that learned to read clocks, this is a great thing to have to teach children how to tell time.
Not only that, but multiple children can use the kids kitchen playset at the same time, providing great opportunities for lessons in cooperation and sharing.
Durable
There are plenty of playsets to choose from out there. Not all are wooden. A wooden play kitchen set is very durable and can better stand up against the brute strength of a child. Wooden toys aren’t just a great thing because they’re a natural product. Durability helps insure that children outgrow the product before destroying it.
Enjoyable
I think the main reason you want a child to have a TOY is to have FUN…right? Most wooden kitchen sets come with accessory kids cookware and kids utensils as well. These are great for banging together, throwing, chewing on, etc…all the qualities a two year-old enjoys. But, they also give the older child an opportunity to do imaginary play cooking in their kitchen while mom or dad are doing actual cooking in the real kitchen.
Although I standby wooden kitchen playsets, there ARE others out there.
The KidKraft Grand Gourmet Play Kitchen is a nice hybrid plastic and wood play kitchen. The thing I liked about this playset was that it came with high-quality accessories like actual metal pots and pans. This isn’t the only KidKraft kitchen on the market, but it is the one I liked best.
The Step2 Fresh Market Kitchen is almost entirely plastic, but it is fantastic at utilizing space, AND it is three toys in one: a kitchen, a dining area, a store front bakery. Again, this isn’t the only step 2 kitchen…but it is my favorite.