More play food advice [Archive] - Baby Bargains & Baby 411 Community

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PAfirsttimemom

12-19-2010, 12:41 AM

My boys are getting a KidKraft wooden play kitchen for Christmas, and I'd like to get some food to go with it. ILs are buying them the Melissa and Doug sandwich set and pizza party. Problem is, we are not celebrating with them till the week after Christmas. I'd like to get some for Christmas Day. I've been eyeing the M&D sets on amazon. Cutting Food seems popular and is down to 9.99. Pie set and fruits are also 9.99. Ice cream set is 14.99. Not sure which to get. Seems people really like the cutting food, but I wonder if it will be too similar to the sandwich set, as they both have some of the same stuff, like the velcro bread. Should I stick to wood, or consider one of the big plastic sets, which have lots of different foods, or felt, like the ones from Ikea? My boys are 2 and 4. Any advice?

LaCostaMom

12-19-2010, 01:32 AM

I didn't buy wood when we got their kitchen last year (my kids were 21 months then) because I was afraid they would hurl the wood food parts at other things (TV) or each other. I stuck with felt play food and that's what we've been using. You do have to deal with the fact that the material can/will get gnarly - especially if they are into "tasting".

I've heard that some of the wood food is rather large so make sure that they will fit into your pots & pans appropriately but otherwise, many parents love the wood food - especially the M & D ones.

I did buy Ikea's breakfast set this year for DD and I'm making bowtie pasta and fettucini from felt. Also making tea bags for her tea set.

soontobe

12-20-2010, 08:39 PM

just one thing to think about with any food that has velcro is that it picks up everything from the floor and can get really gross and dirty...

sunshine873

12-20-2010, 10:43 PM

DD got the Ikea fabric food for an early Christmas celebration. She got the fruit basket and the vegetable basket...they are adorable.

mommyapb

12-20-2010, 11:45 PM

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/wooden-fruit-veggie-set/?pkey=ctoy-sale&cm_src=hplink

This set looks very nice but I amnot sure the scale of it. Since you have a 2 yr old some pieces might be smaller than you are comfortable with. But for $19.99 & free shipping it seems like a good deal for a set with both fruits & veggies.

HTH

Amelia
DD 3/06
DS 3/09

Jenn27

12-21-2010, 09:25 AM

Our M&D cutting fruit lost it's sticky-ness after about 6 months. We have some wonderful crocheted veggies from Etsy that are washable and some Ikea fruit coming for Christmas. I'd stick to basics for the younger ones. Fruits, veggies, we also have Haba ice cream cones (bc the kid LOVES ice cream) and an Etsy sweet set. I'm sure next year (3yrs) we will
branch out into the bigger M&D sets (pizza, cake, etc).

smilequeen

12-21-2010, 09:46 AM

We've had M&D cutting food for years and they really like it. Ours is still in good condition (which is odd b/c M&D stuff does tend to chip easily). No throwing food issues with my boys. They just like to serve it to us :) We have the stir fry set, the ice cream, the cookies, and the pizza. They LOVE the ice cream set.

We have some Plan Toys wooden food too, but it can be smaller scale. Haba wood food is nice, but small if you have a mouther/little one.

We also have some cloth play food, mostly Haba, that they like, but we have things like a Taco that has a lot of pieces and a hamburger that is easier to deal with.

I'm not at all opposed to plastic toys, but I do stay away from the plastic food.

PAfirsttimemom

12-21-2010, 12:19 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions! I ended up getting the M&D Cutting Food and ice cream sets the other day because the Amazon prices were great and they seem to get good reviews. I hope they like them! Food as projectiles could be a problem in our house, but we'll have to see how it goes.

If I hadn't gotten those, I would have definitely considered that PBK cutting food set the PP posted. Very cute. I do think the Ikea food looks great, too, especially that breakfast set. We're planning a trip there in the near future to get some playroom storage furniture, so I may pick the play food up to give in the future--Valentine's, Easter, or bdays.

Thanks again!

jenstring95

12-21-2010, 04:45 PM