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My kids love spending time in their play kitchen. The play kitchen engages my toddler and preschooler in lots of pretend play. It gives them the opportunity to act out what they see mommy doing in the kitchen on a daily basis.
My daughter started playing with her kitchen around 12 months old when she received it as a Christmas gift. Now, at 4 years old, she still plays with it. Her play has become more involved as she gets older.
My son started showing interest in the kitchen around 12 months, too! He actually started crawling over, pulled up to standing and explored the kitchen well before one. Needless to say, our play kitchen gets used a lot in our home.
There are many benefits of setting up a play kitchen area for your children. In this post, I’m going to share with you how a play kitchen area benefits your child’s development. Not only does it impact his/her social development, it supports academic development, too! Also, I will provide you with some ideas for extending the play and learning with the kitchen and give you ways to set up the play area without spending a lot of money.
Is a play kitchen worth it?
I believe a play kitchen is one of those toys that grows with your child. It allows for endless opportunities of imaginative play and learning. It is a toy that engages a variety of ages and lends itself well to multiple children. You can add different items and elements to the kitchen as your child’s interests grow and change. The play kitchen and kitchen items are ALWAYS on my must-buy gift list for toddlers!
Play kitchens are an investment and can cost a lot of money. But I believe it is a worthwhile investment for your child’s playroom. There are some children who play with it more than others. Some parents worry if it is a waste of money. However, it is easy to find play kitchens that were previously owned. Yard sales, garage sales, consignment sales and Facebook Marketplace are great places to find play kitchens for significantly less.
There are also ways to set up a play kitchen space by using inexpensive items and furniture you probably already have in your home. There are ways to set up a play kitchen without taking up a lot of space in your home. The cost of play kitchens as well as the concern about how much space they take up can be factors you are considering. The options I share in the next section are great alternatives to buying a full kitchen.
How do I set up a play kitchen without spending hundreds of dollars?
Believe it or not, there are many ways you can set up a play kitchen space in your home without spending a lot of money and purchasing a fancy play kitchen.
Cardboard Kitchen
Did you know that you can build an entire kitchen from cardboard boxes? The possibilities are quite endless when it comes to using cardboard boxes to build an oven, microwave, and refrigerator.
What I love about this play kitchen is the amount of counter space available for young children to prepare meals and the amount of storage available for all of the kitchen accessories. This cardboard kitchen has three cabinets for storing the plates, cups and pots. There is also a nice size refrigerator to store all of the food items! She dressed it up by covering the boxes with contact paper from the Dollar Store. It looks very realistic and inviting to young children. The video tutorials are extremely helpful when it comes to building this cardboard kitchen! I actually followed these video tutorials to build our very own cardboard play kitchen.
Storage Bin with Oven on Top
This pack-n-go play stove is perfect for small spaces and a small budget, costing less than $10. I just love the idea of turning an inexpensive clear storage container into a stovetop for little ones to engage in some pretend cooking. The dishes and utensils can be found in your own kitchen or at the Dollar Store. It is simple and easy to put together this pretend play activity for your child.
Pieces of Furniture
There are TONS of tutorials on Pinterest showing ways to build play kitchens using pieces of furniture. From entertainment centers to small dressers, the possibilities are truly endless if you are handy and want a more involved project. Here is a post from Big Happy House that shares 30 DIY play kitchens you can make from pieces of old furniture. There are also simple ways of using a bookshelf for storing the kitchen items and food accessories and a small table for the counterspace. You can find cheap or free furniture at stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army, at yard sales, garage sales or walking around your neighborhood on trash day.
Dollar Store Items for Kitchen
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on kitchen accessories to stock your child’s play kitchen. Most kitchens do come with some accessories, but if they do not or you are building your own, check out the Dollar Store for dishes, utensils and baking pans. My kids love using real kitchen utensils and dishes during play. Plus, the large mixing bowl gives more space when my daughter whips up a fruit salad or soup. She just loves pretending to bake a birthday cake using our Dollar Store cake pans and putting together a batch of cupcakes for her baby dolls using the muffin pan I picked up at the Dollar Store.
What is the best age for a play kitchen?
A play kitchen makes the perfect toy for 2 and 3 year olds. But, as your child’s play increases in complexity, it will continue to be played with well past 5 or 6 years old. Even 12-18 month olds will find enjoyment out of turning knobs, opening and closing cupboards, pushing buttons on the microwave and exploring play food. As the fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination strengthen in a 12-18 month old, his/her play will reflect this.
The play kitchen becomes a wonderful way to build vocabulary and develop language when your child reaches the preschool age (3-5). They learn the names of all the utensils used in the kitchen as well as the verbs for the actions. You can talk about opposites like hot and cold. Descriptive words like sweet and savory become part of the conversation. Following the steps in a process as they imitate making a meal of pasta is a fun way to engage a preschooler. Role-playing becomes a valuable part of the play, too!
Therefore, I would say a play kitchen is best for toddlers (1-3 years old), preschoolers (3-5 years old) and school-age (5-7 years old). There is no best age, per se, but each age can benefit from a play kitchen. As your child grows, so does the complexity and level of his/her play.
Which play kitchen is the best?
There are a lot of options when it comes to play kitchens. The amount of options is almost overwhelming! When deciding on which play kitchen to purchase, it is important to think about the following questions:
- How much do I want to spend?
- Where will the kitchen be played with? How much space do I have?
- What features do I want to be included?
- Do I want a kitchen with or without accessories included?
- What material do I prefer? (Wood or Plastic)
- Do I want a kitchen that provides storage?
The above questions will help you narrow down your search and decide on the play kitchen that works best for your children and your family. The three play kitchens I share below are very different, but well reviewed. I chose to include these three because they show a range of play kitchens. When you click on each image, you can learn more about each play kitchen, view those similar in style and read more in depth about the likes/dislikes parents shared in the reviews.
Step2 Little Cooks Kitchen
This play kitchen is very budget-friendly with a price tag around $55 and a good option for smaller spaces. Parents say this kitchen takes less than 15 minutes to put together and it barely takes up any room in their living room. There are storage hooks for utensils and a storage bin included to help stay organized. A 21-piece kitchen accessory set is included, too! The stovetop burner features sounds and flashing lights.
Step2 Fun with Friends Kitchen
This play kitchen is just under $100 and comes with 24-piece accessory set to jumpstart your child’s pretend play. There are hooks for hanging utensils and bins for storing food. The stovetop burners feature realistic lights and sounds and there is a fun Keurig coffee maker included! Parents love how easy this kitchen is to assemble. The realistic details and extras on this kitchen definitely make it a hit with toddlers and preschoolers. The only cons to this kitchen are the smaller compartments (oven, fridge and microwave) and limited counterspace for preparing food.
KidKraft Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen
This play kitchen is larger in size and higher in price, but the refrigerator, oven and storage shelf under the sink are the perfect size for all the accessories and food. I love how realistic this kitchen looks, as well as the size of the appliances. The oven and refrigerator are large enough to fit pots, pans and larger food items. There are realistic lights and sound on the burners and icemaker, which is a fun addition for young children. The washing machine makes this kitchen extra cool for your little ones. This is one of the best kitchens for a few children to play with at a time. This kitchen is made from solid wood and plastic. This kitchen does not come with any play food or accessories, but the quality is definitely a pro!
If you are looking for even more play kitchen options, this article from What to Expect shares the top picks in play kitchens. You’re bound to find the perfect kitchen for your children 😊
How does a play kitchen help a child’s development?
One of the reasons why I love pretend play and pretend play with a kitchen is the number of skills my toddler and preschooler are learning and developing. Not only is pretending to be a chef fun for little ones, it is filled with hands-on learning and play.
Play kitchens invite children into the world of pretend play, supporting their social, emotional and cognitive development in the process. Pretend play in the kitchen is so beneficial to your child’s overall development.
Creativity and imagination
Nothing encourages imagination more than a play kitchen! A play kitchen invites your children to act out countless creative stories and imagine themselves as a chef, server in a restaurant, baker, mom cooking or dad serving dinner. They are in control of the meals they make and can be as creative as they want.
Language and communication
Talking about how they are playing in the kitchen, the meals they are making and the ingredients they are using are all ways young children build their language. Your child learns so many new words while cooking in the play kitchen. Words from the names of the utensils to the different types of food he/she is cooking with. They talk to other children, a parent, a grandparent or a teacher as they are playing. Playing in the kitchen is a great opportunity to practice requesting things they want to use and communicating their needs.
Playing in the kitchen opens up conversation. You ask your child questions about what they are making and talk about the actions they are taking. My daughter loves talking about what she’s making in the kitchen. She shares with me the ingredients she is using along the way.
A play kitchen is a valuable tool for speech therapy and this article goes into detail about 21 reasons why a play kitchen should be used for speech therapy. I found this article helpful because it gives ideas on how you can engage with your child while he/she is playing in the kitchen. The ideas would benefit any child when it comes to language and communication, not just one who struggles with speech.
Social skills and teamwork
Social development and teamwork are two very important things learned while playing in the kitchen. When two or more children are playing in the kitchen, they must take turns, communicate with one another, and work together. They need to practice sharing the items in the play kitchen. Each child can be assigned a responsibility while preparing an imaginary dinner for the family. One child does the cooking while the other child washes the dishes.
Planning and organization
Your child is planning an imaginary meal to make and thinks through the ingredients he/she needs for the meal, the utensils and dishes needed to cook the meal and how to serve the meal. Usually the items in the play kitchen are organized by type or category. This helps children learn how to organize and the value of being organized. It is easier to find a mixing spoon when all of the utensils are together rather than if every kitchen item is in one big basket.
Many of the play kitchens out there include various cabinets, hooks and bins for all of the things that come with it. We use clear plastic bins with colorful labels taped on the outside. The labels help my children know where to put the food, utensils and kitchen tools when it’s time to clean up.
Life skills
Teaching your child to clean up the play kitchen after he/she is finished playing is an important lifelong skill. This teaches responsibility for one’s belongings. Most children value their play kitchen and want to take care of it. Most of the time, they see mommy and daddy clean up after cooking and eating a meal so want to imitate what they see while cooking an imaginary meal. The clean up becomes part of the play.
Kitchen safety is another valuable life skill that can be taught while playing. Asking your child questions such as “Should you touch the oven or stove when it is on?” or “Can you use knives by yourself?” requires him or her to think about how to be safe in the kitchen.
Independence and self-confidence
My daughter loves playing in her kitchen because she feels a sense of independence and self-confidence. She is in control of her actions, the meal she is making and the steps she is following to prepare the meal. My daughter is quite the independent child and prefers to do most things by herself. We use the play kitchen to teach her the importance of cleaning up after herself and taking care of it.
Problem-solving
Following a recipe is like completing a puzzle. Every ingredient and step must be done in a specific sequence. Young children practice sequencing as they put together a meal in the play kitchen. Also, if an ingredient or utensil goes missing while playing, the child must come up with a solution to this problem.
Counting and math
While playing in the kitchen, your child practices counting the number of plates and silverware they need to set the table for an imaginary meal. He/she counts how many pieces of fruit or cupcakes are prepared. If your preschooler is playing waiter, he can practice counting how many pieces of food were asked for by the customer.
With a play kitchen, the opportunities for building counting and improving math skills is endless. Better yet, your child is practicing and developing these skills while having fun.
Comparing and classifying the foods in the play kitchen is another important math skill. Talking about the size, shape and color of the food items helps to develop your child’s understanding of this vocabulary within a meaningful context and through play.
Visual recognition
Our play kitchen is stocked with a variety of food items, utensils and dishes. They learn about different foods and objects in the kitchen. My children learn to categorize the items and food types in the kitchen.
Healthy food choices
Play kitchens promote a variety of foods for young children to explore and use to make meals. By including fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy, young children learn to build healthy meals while playing in the kitchen. As they imagine these healthy foods being cooked for breakfast, lunch or dinner, it makes them more likely to eat them in real life. We love this set of play food for supporting the concept of building healthy, balanced meals.
Fine motor skills
The utensils and tools in a play kitchen strengthen fine motor skills. They pick up kitchen accessories, use a spoon to mix, use the knobs to turn the oven on, and put objects inside of containers. They are constantly using their hands in all situations in the play kitchen.
Many of the kitchen food sets we have give my children an opportunity to safely cut food into pieces. From fruits and vegetables to birthday cake and pizza, these playsets are perfect for building hand-eye coordination while learning how to use a knife safely. Plus, you can use the sets to practice counting and talking about parts of a whole 😉
How do you make play kitchen food?
Our play kitchen is stocked with cleaned out food containers and boxes of cereal covered in clear packing tape. My kids love playing with these “real” food containers! What I love about using them is when they get damaged, I simply throw in the recycle bin without a worry in the world.
There are lots of ways to make play kitchen food items for your children. This is a wonderful option for parents who love crafting and creating or those who don’t want to spend a ton of money on play food sets. Most of these options require very little cost when it comes to supplies and your little ones will love the finished product 😊
Crochet pretend play food
If you love to crochet and work with your hands, creating play food from yarn is a great option! These crochet projects are quick to put together, making it the perfect naptime project. Check out the posts below for patterns to start creating play food for your toddler and preschooler today! The best part is that most of these patterns are free 😊
Roundup: 20 Free Crochet Patterns for Pretend Play Food by Kim Guzman
My favorite food item in this article from Crochet Kim is probably the Green Eggs and Ham. What a fun way to extend the fun after reading the Dr. Seuss book with your little ones!
Play with Your Food: 40 Free Amigurumi Patterns to Crochet Today!
This article from Moogly Blog includes links to crochet patterns for 40 different food items, broken down into category. There are 10 patterns each for Fruits & Vegetables, Meat & Eggs, Sweets & Desserts and Snacks & Miscellaneous.
15 Crocheted Play Food Patterns
This article from diys.com includes 15 patterns that will delight your little ones as they play in their kitchen. The happy meal, frappuccinos and colorful platter of fruits and veggies are my favorites!
Felt pretend play food
You can purchase packages of felt in every color of the rainbow! Lots of colors means lots of options for making pretend play food for your child’s kitchen.
This website shares a massive list of 88 play foods you can make from felt. The patterns are free and do require some sewing, but easy for beginners to create. While this seems like a lot of patterns to weed through, Stephanie White from The Spruce Crafts organized them by category: Fruits, Vegetables, Meats, Cheese, Sandwiches, Pasta, Cracker and Bread, Desserts, and Drinks. This makes it really easy to find what you are looking for!
Eco-Friendly Crafts shares 17 free felt food patterns that are washable and eco-friendly. The smore’s and campfire and circus animal cookies look so cute and inviting for little ones. The smore’s and campfire would be perfect for pretending to go camping.
Design and print pretend play food
You can design pretend play food using Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. Open a blank presentation, size the slides to 8 1/2 by 11, and insert clipart images of the foods you want to print. Print these on cardstock and laminate for durability. Cut out and start playing!
If you want to create play sets like building sandwiches or pancakes, use Velcro Dots to allow the pieces to attach to one another. Along with the pancakes, design blueberries, strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips by putting the clipart images inside of circles. Print, laminate and add Velcro Dots. Then invite your child to build custom pancakes by sticking the toppings on top of the them.
Here are some websites I found that offer printable play food that will engage your little ones in hours of imaginative play:
This first website offers a collection of printable play food sets complete with real photos for hours of cooking fun. There is one page per set available for free. If you want the complete collection, you are asked to become a premium member.
- Breakfast
- Dining Set
- Sandwich
- Hamburger
- Super Salad
- Mexican Fiesta
- Dinner Time
- Italian Feast
- Grocery Set
- Decorate cookies
- Frozen Yogurt
- Pizza Party
- Pantry Set
This next set of printable play food includes templates for building a milk carton, a cereal box, a box of crackers and a piece of cheese. What is fun about this printable play food is you can use the template and allow your child to “design” and color the food items. The carton template can be used to make milk or any flavor juice your child enjoys. The box template can be used for designing many pantry items (pretzels, cake mix, pancake mix, animal crackers, etc.).
Toilet paper canned foods
Did you know you can make mini canned food items for your child’s play kitchen out of toilet paper tubes? Well, you can and it’s really easy to do!
This blog post teaches you exactly how to take labels from canned goods you are throwing away and using them to create toddler-friendly canned goods perfect for playing grocery store or cooking a meal in the play kitchen.
How to play with a pretend kitchen?
It’s possible your toddler and preschooler will get bored of their play kitchen after the newness of it wears off. Instead of getting rid of it, find other ways to play with it and make it feel new again to your little ones. Below I share several ways you can extend your child’s play in the kitchen and make the most of the time spent playing together 😁
Pretend to cook and follow recipes
A lot of the cooking we do is following recipes. Learning how to read and follow a recipe is a life skill you can teach your children while they are playing. The kitchen playsets we own from Melissa & Doug include recipe cards, which I love because it gives more opportunities for learning.
You can make your own set of recipes cards that include your child’s favorite meals using Microsoft Word, Google Docs or Microsoft PowerPoint. Just type out simple steps using pictures and words so your preschooler can follow easily. The most important part is learning the sequence of a recipe and understanding that you need to complete the steps in a specific order.
Go grocery shopping and put food away
Playing grocery store is a natural extension of playing in the kitchen. Present a problem to your children. The problem could be there is nothing for dinner. Begin by planning a meal and creating a shopping list together. Let your child take the lead and guide as needed. Travel to the pretend grocery store and shop for the items on your shopping list. Bring them back home, put the food away and begin preparing the dinner.
Setting up a grocery store is really easy to do. You can use a small table or shelf as the grocery store. You can even set up a grocery store checkout counter using three cardboard boxes and a cash register.
Engage in restaurant dramatic play
Invite your child to be a waiter/waitress and have you choose items from a menu. You can set up a Mexican, Chinese or Italian Restaurant and invite your child to offer themed foods to eat. Or just ask your child what the “Chef’s Special” is and let him/her be creative in the kitchen. This role play is so much fun for preschoolers and they will love taking your order and preparing the meal for you.
Grab a small notebook or staple some pieces of paper together and let your little one “write” out the order. My toddler will scribble on the paper while my preschooler will try to write the letters she hears, but the opportunity to hold a pencil/pen/marker/crayon and “write” is great for building fine motor. My toddler is practicing how to hold a tool to write and my preschooler is given an opportunity to practice her literacy skills. It’s learning in a purposeful way and I love it! 😁
Set the table for meals
Young children love to help. Invite them to set the table for dolls, stuffed animals or your family. Go through the steps to set the table. Count how many places there will be at the table. Then gather the dishes, cups and utensils. Take a piece of white paper and draw a place setting on it. Use this as a guide for your child as he/she sets the table.
Invite your little ones to apply what they practiced in their play kitchen by helping to set their own places at the family table. Place the kid-friendly plates, cups and silverware in a low drawer or cabinet. Let them choose what they need for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This teaches responsibility and gives them a special job at each meal.
Wash the dishes
It is fun to pretend to wash the dishes after playing in the kitchen. Guide your child through the steps needed to wash the dishes used during play. Provide your child with an empty and cleaned out soap bottle, a sponge or dish cloth and a kitchen towel. Use the sink provided with the play kitchen or set up your own dish washing station. You will need a dish pan and dish drying rack, which you can find at the dollar store. Set these up on a table or low surface. If you want to add in some water play, add a tiny bit of water to the dishpan and let your child use to clean and rinse the dishes.
My daughter was gifted a dish washing sink for her 3rd birthday and she loves it! It is the perfect addition to our play kitchen and the color changing dishes make it highly engaging. You can use it with or without water for some dish washing fun! My daughter is perfectly happy using it without water.
Pretend to visit a pizza parlor
We love our Melissa & Doug Pizza Party Play Set! It invites imaginative play into our kitchen. My toddler loves to slice the pizza into pieces and put them on plates for his favorite toys. Great opportunities for building fine motor and hand-eye coordination. My preschooler loves to ask mommy and daddy what kind of pizza we would like to eat and proceed to build a pizza with all the requested toppings. She is asking questions, taking requests and following directions all while pretending to be a chef at a pizza parlor.
Play house and pretend to be mommy
Young children, especially 3-5 year olds, love to imitate mommy and daddy. Nurture this by playing house! Include some baby dolls in the pretend kitchen play. Have your child pretend to be mommy and feed the baby snacks and/or meals. My daughter loves to play house with her baby dolls. Sometimes we are making dinner for the babies and sometimes we are giving the baby dolls a bath and putting them to bed. Once in awhile we take the babies for walks around the basement playroom. I simply follow her lead and we go through the routines of taking care of a baby.
Bake a cake for a birthday party
Pretending to host a birthday party for a friend and family member and baking a cake (or cupcakes) is a lot of fun for toddlers and preschoolers! My daughter loves birthdays, but I think she mostly loves the cake 😂
Use a mixing bowl, taped box of cake mix, plastic Easter eggs and cake pans from the Dollar Store, to engage your little one in hours of simple pretend play.
The realistic looking wooden playsets pictured below are wonderful ways to enhance your child’s dramatic play 😉
Make lunch for daddy
My daughter loves preparing pretend meals for other people in our family. This type of pretend play is highly motivating to her. Making a lunch for daddy is a favorite way to extend our play in the kitchen. Have your preschooler make lunch for someone special in his/her life. We talk about the components of a balanced meal and what would make a healthy lunch for daddy. Grab some unused plastic food storage containers from your kitchen or buy some from the Dollar Store, find a lunchbox and/or a lunch bag and watch your child pack a lunch.
Pretend to be a baker
There are many community roles that take place in the kitchen. A baker is one your child will enjoy pretending to be! From cupcakes to cookies, your child will have so much fun pretending to bake sweet treats for friends and family.
As your child bakes up a storm, he/she learns the names of specific baking ingredients (baking soda, sugar, flour, vanilla, butter, eggs, baking powder, brown sugar, etc.) and baking tools (measuring cups, rolling pin, mixing spoon, cookie tray, measuring spoons, cake pan, etc.). What a wonderful way to build vocabulary!
It is fun to bake with kids in the actual kitchen, too, but pretending to be a baker allows them to bake for stuffed animals and dolls. It’s less messy, too 😂
Have a picnic or tea party
We received this picnic basket as a gift when my daughter was around one and my kids still play with it! Spreading out a blanket in the living room and pretending to have a picnic is one of the first ways my toddler and preschooler played well together. They loved setting the blanket, filling the plates with yummy snacks and eating 😊
Playing tea party is just as engaging for my toddler and preschooler! My preschooler likes to dress up in one of her many Disney Princess dresses and serve tea to her brother. Clinking their cups together and saying, “Cheers!” is a favorite part of this pretend play! Sometimes we use water and have a water tea party to practice pouring and learn about volume.
Prepare tasty hot drinks at a hot cocoa stand
Hot cocoa is a popular drink during the winter. Invite your toddler and preschooler to set up a hot cocoa stand at a table or on a cardboard box. Include cups/mugs, spoons, milk and cotton balls or white pompoms as marshmallows. You can even use pieces of brown tissue paper as the hot cocoa. Just have your child crumple into a ball and stick inside the cups.
Other “extras” you might want to include are sprinkles, chocolate chips and candy canes. You can make sprinkles by taking different colored pipe cleaners and cutting each one into 1/2 inch pieces. Put inside a plastic shaker jar. The chocolate chips can be brown pom poms or pieces of brown paper cut down into smaller pieces and crumpled into balls. Your toddler and preschooler will love making cups of hot cocoa with all of these fun extras.
Similar to playing restaurant, have your child take orders and fill the cup following the orders. Make sure they ask how many marshmallows are requested in each cup. This is a great way to incorporate counting and math.
Pretend to be a barista at a coffee shop
I love my coffee and when I washed out a half & half container and coffee creamer container for the play kitchen, making coffee became a favorite way to play. Then, when we received a cute wooden coffee maker set for my daughter’s birthday, she was ALWAYS making coffee.
She loved asking me how I wanted my coffee, adding in the creamer and milk as she brewed me the perfect cup of coffee.
As with the hot cocoa stand, set up a little coffee shop on a small table or cardboard box. Include milk, cinnamon, and sugar. Have your child take coffee orders and get to work making the drinks. You can even include a cash register and have your child collect payment for the coffee.
I wanted to share a post from Inspired Motherhood because she shares how she set up a dramatic play coffee shop for her kids. It includes printable signs and order forms so you can set this up for your kids, too!
Conclusion
Well, that’s a wrap! I hope this blog post inspired you to set up a play kitchen in your home for your kids and engage in some dramatic play together. We spend time playing in the kitchen every day and with all of the play ideas I’ve shared in this post, your toddler and preschooler will never get bored with their play kitchen.
