Let's talk about play food!

[JoyNChrist]

I know there are probably a million threads about this out there, but I thought it might be helpful if we could try to consolidate all of our information about the different types/brands of play food in one place. I know that I can't be the only one who's doing a play kitchen for Christmas, and food naturally comes along with that.

So...what kind/brands of play food do you/DC like?
Wood? Plastic? Felt?
Particular brands of each?
What about cutting food?
Anybody make their own (I'm thinking felt, but who knows)?
Any must-have items or things your DC particularly enjoys (cookies, cakes, produce, etc)?
What about pots, pans, utensils, aprons, that sort of thing?
Best places to buy (B&M and online)?

I know this information would really help me, and I bet it would be helpful to a lot of other moms here. So if everybody can just add whatever information/reviews/opinions you have, that would be great! :D

[Bean606]

My favorites are Melissa & Doug, Haba, and International Playthings. Found good deals at kidsurplus.com, especially really cute metal pots and pans, a whisk, and potholders that DS loves.

[Rainbows&Roses]

My most favorite are the fruits and vegetables from nova naturals. They are works of art!

We like Haba too and wool felted food from Etsy. Melissa and Doug is okay, but not our favorite. Also the chenille chef on etsy for donuts, ice cream cones and watermelon. PBK also has some cute stuff if you can get it on super clearance.

She does like the cutting food.

Pots and pans from Ikea are pretty nice.

You can actually get felted food designs/instructions on etsy. I am not that talented, but I think even I could make some of it!

[brittone2]

DS loved the M&D cutting food, but I am not too thrilled with that company in terms of being MIC, etc.

Once he stopped putting stuff in his mouth, I liked the Haba stuff. Well-made, no chipping (for us anyway), but small in scale. I'm okay with DD having it now as she's approaching 2 and is not putting stuff in her mouth much anymore.

I like felt food and have made a few things...needlefelting works the best for me (easy to make a sunny-side up egg). I've felted a tan wool sweater and then cut circles out of it and needle felted on dark brown chocolate chips (really, really easy but still recognizable as a cookie LOL). I took the sleeves from the same sweater, and cuffed them for a cupcake wrapper, then needlefelted the actual cupcake. We purchased ice cream cones from the chenille chef on Etsy last year and we love those. Adorable! The only thing w/ cloth/felt food is that if you are germophobic or have a lot of kids that come play, it sometimes goes in mouths and isn't easy to clean, kwim? (most kids are quite attracted to those ice cream cones LOL).

We had some Target playfood that was gifted and it just did not hold up well at all, so I don't recommend that personally.

If I was buying new wooden food, I'd look at NovaNaturals food, or more Haba (for older kids). Haba's new Biofino stuff is cute and made of cloth, but it is MIC, so that might be an issue for some people (although no paint).

[DrSally]

DS loves his M&D cutting food. We also like the pottery barn felt food we got recently from a deal posted here. It's expensive though. My least fav is the plastic food. I'd rather have fewer pieces of "good" food.

[MommyAllison]

We have one set of wooden M&D breakfast (non cutting) food, and a few things I've handed down to DD from our kitchen (empty spices containers, empty sprinkles container, empty quick oats container) which are far and away her favorites. We also have the M&D pizza set, which is cutting food, and DD loves to cut up the pizza, though the toppings are easy to make a huge mess with since there are so many. I would like to knit her some play food if I ever get to it, but I am concerned that our cat might adopt it as her own little toys. :) For us, a little play food goes a long way, and DD pretends that her food is all different types of food. We bought a pot and a pan at the dollar store along with a few wooden spoons at the dollar store, and got play quilted oven mitts and pot holders from the target $ spot last Christmas, which every child has adored. TJMaxx usually has M&D food, we got one set there and the other at an indy toy store. Have fun! :)

[fivi2]

We are more about the accessories at our house - pots, pans, dishes... We have some IKEA stuff and some stuff that came with the old kitchen. I love the oven mitt idea - can't believe we don't have those! And a friend is making aprons for their birthday this year (I think! - so excited). And I think I'll do a tin tea set this year.

The girls usually just use whatever - blocks, pieces of paper, etc and call it food. They had some plastic food (gift) but all they did was suck on it while they played, so it disappeared. They didn't really play with it, kwim? I do have some M&D cutting food that I forgot to give them last year, so it will be a gift this year, but I don't play to add any more food.

[brittone2]

Back to agree w/ the PPs. DS played with the playkitchen a LOT from age 2-3 (that and the train table took up most of his playtime). We had a nice amount of food, but not too much. Then we got several sets (great sales here, and some gifts) and it just got to be *too* much. He played better w/ a moderate amount, kwim?

Don't forget the cheapo idea of saving a few boxes (like a box from Annie's Mac and Cheese for example) and seeing if your DC enjoys playing with those.

[KHF]

We have really loved the quality of the Plan Toys wooden food. We have the Breakfast Set and the Assorted Fruits and Vegetables set. Some of the ones in the Fruit and Veggie set are cutting food. DD has played with those for a solid year now and has not tired of them.

We got them for her when she was 2 and removed a couple of pieces from the breakfast set because I thought they were too small. Come to think of it, I never did get those out for her! I need to do that.

I checked out the Haba food, but thought it might be too small for DD when we were buying it (at 2 years old).