This post was last updated on November 23rd, 2022 at 02:09 pm
Best Play Kitchen For Kids 2022
A play kitchen fits the bill if you want a toy that can keep kids engaged and playing for hours. They're perfect for solo play and group play and appeal equally to boys and girls.
Children need to let their imaginations run into pretend play, and these kitchen playsets are an excellent way to express themselves while having fun and learning.
They make lovely Christmas gifts as the 'main present.'
When looking for the best play kitchen for your child, you'll have plenty of choices. Different styles and construction types provide alternative models depending on your circumstances. It's a personal preference.
Have a look through the toys selected here, then read the buyer's guide at the foot of the post.
If you are in a hurry you can see all the toy kitchen playsets HERE!
Plastic Play Kitchens
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Garden to Kitchen
The Garden to Kitchen toy from Fisher-Price is unlike the other play kitchens here. The kitchen is on one side, but the other is a garden play area. Kids can grow the food on one side of the unit then pass it through to the other side for pretend play cooking the food, and preparing a meal.
Lights, sounds, movement, and instructions combine to make an original interactive toy.
The Laugh and Learn Garden to Kitchen has 30 play pieces, 175 sounds and phrases, lights that work, and plenty of shapes to fit through openings and many projects to teach them simple basics.
Garden to Kitchen is an innovative toy that introduces toddlers to colors, shapes, sounds, and the alphabet, as well as helping them develop healthy eating, good manners, and learning how to follow instructions.
You will need 3 x AA batteries to power the special effects.
Recommended age range: 18 to 36 months
Step2 Best Chefs Kitchen Playset
The oven, stove, refrigerator, and sink in this Best Chef's Kitchen playset provide many knobs to turn, doors to open, and storage areas. There are hooks for kitchen utensils and cups, a shelf for bottles and jars, and a counter space for food prep.
There's even a plastic tub to store all the loose kitchen stuff when playtime packs up for the day.
The stove burner has lights and cooking sounds (for which you'll need to provide 2 x AA batteries), and there's a 25 piece kitchen accessory set. All of which adds to the fun.
The Best Chef's Toy Kitchen measures W 38.5" x H 34.38" x D 11.5" and is recommended for ages two and up.
Some adult assembly is needed before any serious culinary activity.
Step2 Grand Walk-in Play Kitchen
Grand Walk-in is a big kitchen playset that needs a lot of space for kids to access it all around. It's almost like a playroom. It provides a lot of room for multiple children to play inside and out at the same time.
It has an attractive brown, tan and maroon design which is open on one side, with thru-openings on the other three sides. It has a cushioned foam floor for kids' safety and comfort, which is a nice touch and has the sort of detail that makes pretend-play such fun.
The dining area at one side encourages group play in and outside the play kitchen. Kids can play at cooking, serving, and eating.
Stainless steel-looking refrigerator and appliances, plus the electronic features that make the stovetop, grill, and phone look so realistic, create an adorable playset that is an excellent hit with the kids.
It includes a massive 103 piece accessory set that can tidy away in all the storage points in the kitchen. If you need to keep multiple kids entertained for hours, this is possibly the best play kitchen you could find.
Recommended ages: 2 to 8 years.
Little Tikes Super Chef Kitchen Set
This stylish and compact play kitchen from Little Tikes creates a play area you can locate freestanding or in the corner of a room.
The two play areas at the front of the unit are angled slightly away from each other so that two children paying side-by-side won't bump into each other.
This kitchen has many accessories - cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons, coffee pot, and phone - plus working features. Doors open on the oven, microwave, and refrigerator. The oven has a clicker knob and makes cooking sounds.
Recommended age range: 3 years and older.
Little Tikes First Market Kitchen
With its farm-to-table theme, the First Market Kitchen has twenty-five accessories, lots of storage, and some special features of its own.
Kids can light up the stovetop, write 'Today's Special' on the chalkboard and play with market play food. There is a tote bag and towel for the kids to use, plus containers, honey jar, sink strainer, pretend cell phone, lemonade pitcher, and more.
You'll need to buy a couple of AA batteries to power the electrics.
Recommended ages: 2 years and over.
Wooden Toy Kitchens
Melissa & Doug's Wooden Chef's Toy Kitchen
Melissa and Doug wooden toys are known to be of high quality. This charcoal or pink-colored, modern play kitchen is beautiful and an excellent gift for pretend play. It's large enough for several children to play simultaneously and has many authentic features.
Doors on the oven, microwave, and fridge-freezer all open, providing plenty of play space as well as storage space.
The microwave turntable fully rotates, and oven and stovetop dials turn.
Nice touches are the grocery shopping list, movable hooks, and a chalkboard on the freezer. What's cool is the ice maker in the fridge door, which dispenses two ice cubes.
There are no play food or toy kitchen utensils provided. You can make up a selection yourself as a separate gift.
Adult assembly will be necessary before play begins, but illustrated instructions make it straightforward.
The Chef's Kitchen is about a meter long and three feet high so make sure you have room to locate it safely. The dimensions are: H 39" x L 43.25" x W 15.5".
Age range recommended is 3 years plus.
KidKraft Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen
This fun-loaded corner-fitting play kitchen is quite large and has many interactive features. It's available in white or brown color.
All the appliance doors open, oven knobs turn and click, and the ice maker and stovetop burners have lights and sounds.
You can remove the sink for cleaning, and the taps turn. It has a washer, which not all play kitchens have, a cordless phone with a hands-free clip, and plenty of internal storage. In addition, there's lots of space on the top of the unit.
Any pretend food toys and pots and pans you'll have to buy separately.
The kitchen is made with MDF, solid wood, and plastic detail parts, and assembly takes about an hour. You'll find it easier if two of you can do it together.
Dimensions 42.5" x 32.5" x 36.75". Counter height 21 inches.
For ages 3+.
Hape Gourmet Pretend Play Kitchen Set
Clean and simple lines describe this toddler play kitchen from Hape. It's made from quality wood with non-toxic, child-safe materials for parts and accessories and finished in a natural wood type finish with white, gray, and red decoration. It's perfect for kids with a good imagination.
The kitchen worktop features a stove and sink. Below are clickable and turnable stove burner knobs and doors opening to the oven and a storage cupboard. Above the counter is a shelf for kitchen utensils and space for some play items.
There are no accessories like pretend food or kitchen utensils. You'll need to buy some separately.
It's delivered flat-packed and will require adult assembly, which is easy to do - instructions are included.
Recommended age range: 3 years and above.
Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Kitchen Play Set
Teamson's Little Chef Florence play kitchen has a light, fun, retro feel about it in a choice of three pastel color combinations.
It has many features adding to its play value.
This playset has five accessories, including a cordless phone, a spatula, and three plastic spice containers to encourage imagination and role play.
Teamson has a range of accessories you can buy to use with the play kitchen. Items like a toaster, blender, cookware, and mixer.
Recommended age: 3 years and up.
Tiny Land Toddler Play Kitchen
There are plenty of kitchen features in the Tinyland Kitchen Playset - oven, microwave, refrigerator with ice maker, hob, sink and faucet, and range hood.
Turnable knobs, buttons, extractor and hob sounds, and lights add to the fun of pretend play about preparing food.
Adding to the fun, kids will find some accessories come with their kitchen - an apron, chef hat, stockpot and skillet, vegetables, utensils, knife and plate, cup and ice cubes.
This flat-packed wooden kids' kitchen takes about an hour to assemble - two pairs of hands preferably. It is height adjustable to three settings - 38.5, 40, and 40.7 inches.
Batteries needed: 1 x 3v CR1632 (included). and 4 x AAA (not included)
Recommended age: 3 to 7
Play Kitchen Buyers Guide
Play kitchens are one of the best large toys you can get to aid small children's development. They help advance kids' creativity and imagination, learning skills, and social interaction as they play with others and develop essential motor skills.
Play kitchens are pretty bulky, and you need to ensure you have enough space for one at home before you buy.
Whether you locate it in the kitchen/diner area so children can copy adult activity firsthand or in their playroom or bedroom, kids need enough space to move freely around it. Just as when several kids are playing with it simultaneously, especially if it needs 360-degree access, like the Step2 Grand Walk-in Kitchen.
Think of a kitchen playset as a planned purchase rather than something bought on impulse.
Plastic or Wood Construction?
You have a straight choice in the materials your play kitchen is made from - wood or plastic. Both types have their pros and cons.
Plastic play kitchens are easy to wipe clean, are lightweight and easier to move around, and can use color more readily in their designs. They tend to be smaller than wooden types and take up less room. They are simple to assemble. They are not as durable as wooden units, though.
Wooden play kitchens tend to look a lot more like the real thing, are much more robust, and are more durable because of their construction method. However, they take longer to assemble, are much heavier to move around, and are not as easy to clean as plastic types.
Both types use plastic components anyway, like oven knobs, hooks, and handles.
Assembly Needed
These are bulky toys and will need some assembly before the kids can play with them. The manufacturers, for easy assembly, supply complete instructions, but you are strongly recommended not to use power tools for either type. They can easily strip screw threads and split panels.
Kitchen Accessories
Some pretend kitchens include accessories, but not all. They're needed to enhance the playing experience, so you may need to buy some separately. Fortunately, there are plenty of play kitchen supplies like cooking utensils, play food, and cups and saucers (in wood or plastic) to maximize the play value of the furniture.
Accessories make good gift ideas for kids you know who already have a play kitchen of their own.
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