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View Full Version : thoughts on cutting food? other wooden food?



elephantmeg
10-20-2010, 09:36 AM
I'm working on DD's Christmas wish list. We're planning on getting her a kitchen. I'm hoping to get to Ikea (1-2 hours away) to get some of their play food (do they pretty much always have it? can I call ahead??), I made some play food last year (felt) and can make some more (I have a list-doughnuts, Christmas cookies etc) but am getting mixed reviews about having wooden food. Is the cutting food (plan or M+D) a good idea or not? Maybe just one set? If so, which one? I was looking at the plan foods fruit and veggie combo. DS does love to cut food with a knife so I thought it would be a good idea..

http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toys-Assorted-Fruits-Vegetables/dp/B000I8UK04/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IHL8D1D4ICXSP&colid=3L9ND7Y7GRYAJ

what about the wooden bottle sets?
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Magnetic-Kitchen-Collection/dp/B000GL1HV4/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1WAUV49AFGEE7&colid=3L9ND7Y7GRYAJ

or
http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toy-Food-Beverage-Set/dp/B000S5URGO/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IT74SQYYJCATF&colid=3L9ND7Y7GRYAJ

worth it or not? DD loves taking lids on and off but I wonder if the lids just end up scattered....

of course I still have NO idea where I am going to put the kitchen, lol

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/allReviews.do?product_id=10982709

of course I have NO idea what to do with DS, lol. I am semi thinking of giving *them* the kitchen for Christmas, he love the play kitchen stuff too... has anyone else done that?

TIA, I think I am really over-thinking this, lol!

Seitvonzu
10-20-2010, 10:34 AM
how is it possible that we have NONE of those items you listed? we play coming from our ears, but somehow-- none of those sets :)

we do have other cutting food and i can't say the kids cut it all that much. i have the melissa & doug set, the cookies set (which combines into a roll and gets cut), and we do have some Other plan food that can be "cut" (the meat set, the newer fruit/veg set with the avacado, some random fruit bought piece by piece). i'd say lucy only "cuts" when i sit with her and say "let's get the cutting board and cut"-- she does well enough with that, but it's not her favorite thing. we've had the melissa and doug cutting food the longest and the kids do play with it-- but mostly just to tear it apart...then as mama you have to keep track of the pieces. lucy CAN put it back together, it's just not the preferred activity iykwim!

i've been drawn to the m&d bottles many times but i'm pretty sure they are BIG and now i think we may have aged out of them... they would have been PERFECT at 18 months or so, because of the size and the put on/take off aspect...but again, we don't have them, so i can't tell you my real life experience. the plan bottles are SO cute- but only the honey & jam jars have lids that come off... they are also smaller than M&D which i think is actually a PLUS because then you can have more variety-- which we're all about at our house!

ikea should have the fabric food all the time, but IME they are sometimes out of certain sets of things (particularly during the holidays) so you might want to check. you can check inventory online (for lots of the stuff...but maybe not toys?), but if it says "low stock" i would call. our Ikea isn't too far away, so i sometimes chance it, but if you are making a specific trip, i'd call. i think the best set of the IKEA food is the veggies-- you get a TON of veggies and a good variety and a crate. really fun. we've been having lots of salad- the lettuce leaves pull off! the fruit is nice too -- i love the basket! it reminds me of "mr. rabbit and the lovely present" so we had to have it ;) the breakfast set is a little weird to me-- but only because i didn't realize that half of the stuff is to make a sandwich-- um, how is that "breakfast?" so we don't have that. i just recently got the treats set-- because the cake has 3 candles (my lu is turning 3). i was going to pass on it because we have cupcakes, icecream,candies, cakes, cookies -- enough for a whole bakery-- and really, how much of that "sometimes" food should a toddler have (even pretend?)?? but ... i caved. i think the variety is good (cake and ice cream) even if the cake is a little more british pudding looking :)

Seitvonzu
10-20-2010, 10:37 AM
oh- and i'll never tell you you are overthinking kitchen play!!!! we are serious addicts at our house (well, mommy is:)

when i finished my post i thought, "now, what was the question again?"

i can go on and on....

elephantmeg
10-20-2010, 10:48 AM
lol-I've learned SO much from your posts! thanks for your response!!!!!!!!!!

I love that the ikea cake has candles. And I love that the breakfast has crepes!