Kitchen for a 18 month old

[hillview]

My mom wants to get DS a play kitchen for xmas. I don't think he will be ready for that yet (he loved sorting, stacking, putting things in and out of boxes etc but doesn't have any idea what pretend play is). I am thinking it would be better for 2 year bday and we don't have a ton of space. She really wants to do it. WWYD? Thoughts?
TIA!
/hillary

[annasmom]

Hmm, that is tough. We bought a kitchen for my dd at around 1.5 and she definitely started to play with it right away. My ds started playing with it before he could walk. You are right though that neither of my dc did real "pretend play" with the kitchen right away. But even so, they definitely enjoyed it.

If you aren't getting your ds anything else big for Christmas, I would let your mom get a kitchen (a small one) because I think it is a great gift, and something that your ds will definitely grow into.

We have the Step 2 Little Helpers kitchen and it is great for small ones. It is a nice size and VERY durable. I am getting my dc a bigger wooden kitchen for Christmas.

[clc053103]

I'm getting 16 mo old DS one for x mas! THere is a kitchen set at the nursery at the club where I play tennis and DS just loves it! It's a smaller scale set- I'm going slightly bigger just so he doesn't outgrow it. I'm gettting the STep 2 dream kitchen. I think he's too young for the corners and edges of a wood kitchen (JMO based on my clutzy, new to walking son). They also make smaller kitchens if space is an issue.

DO you have a friend with a kitchen? You could take DS over and see if he seems interested.

[jwozy]

We got our kids a kitchen last Christmas and they were 19 months. My kids really enjoy playing with it from the beginning and it's been great watching them develop the pretend play. For us, it's been a great purchase and I think it'll grow with them for several more years.

[luv_my_girl]

We bought a cheap toy kitchen when my older girl was 18 months and she loved it. The younger one is 18 months now and she loves it too, and we are planning to upgrade for the holidays this year! Play changes over time but it is a great toy to grow with. My kids love to stir "soup" and bake "cookies", even at that young age.

[niccig]

DS is getting one for Christmas, he'll be 2, but he has been playing with one at YMCA babysitting for nearly a year. For him the fun part was - open door, put food in, close door, open door, take food out etc. Now he does pretend play and loves to wash the dishes. If you do get one now or later, he'll just play with it differently depending on his age.

Nicci