It’s no longer your mama’s kitchen when it comes to food toys. These days, you can find a wide variety of items on the market. From Kebabs to Kielbasa, see our 8 reasons why you should encourage your children to play with their food.
1. Food Groups Set by Melissa and Doug
Start with the basics. In this food set by Melissa and Doug, you’ll find food from each of the four basic food groups. Children can use the wooden crates to sort the wooden food items into protein, grains, dairy and fruits and vegetables. Not only does this toy look good enough to eat, it’s educational too!
Buy it from Amazon: Wooden Food Groups Set
2. Black Forest Gateau by Haba
After they’ve learned the four basic food groups you can introduce them to the top of the food pyramid: desserts. We highly suggest this delightful cake by Haba. It is made with soft fabric and beads and is perfect for an imaginary tea party.
Buy it from Amazon: Melissa & Doug Birthday Party Birthday Cake
3. Chop, Chop Chicken by Viola
Progressing from raw and pre-made foods, it’s time to move on to the art of food preparation. The Chop, Chop Chicken is perfect for teaching your child where those different pieces of chicken come from. When they’re done roasting the chicken to imaginary perfection, the tray can be used for serving as well!
Buy it from Amazon:chop chop chicken
4. Breakfast Menu by Plan Toys
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and the Breakfast Menu by Plan Toys is definitely one of our must haves for the toy kitchen. Your child will have fun rearranging the items on the tray and choosing which items to prepare. Eggs, bread and protein come prepared in various different ways so your child can experiment. Best of all ““ this version is cholesterol free.
Buy it from Amazon: Plan Toy Breakfast Menu
5. Grill Set by Haba Biofino
Soon your little chef will be progressing from the indoors out. While dad fires up the barbecue, let junior play along with his own safe Grill Set by Haba Biofino. The best feature of this set: the Kebab has fabric vegetables that slide off and on.
Buy it from Amazon: Little Tikes Inside/Outside Cook N Grill Kitchen
6. Sushi Slicing Kit by Melissa and Doug
There’s a wide variety of ethnic food toys out there, but our favorite has to be the Sushi Slicing Kit by Melissa and Doug. This kit comes with sushi rolls, shrimp, tuna, a cleaver for playing sushi chef, and even a set of chopsticks perfect for small hands. The wooden wasabi paste and decorative bento box add a nice touch as well.
Buy it from Amazon: Melissa and Doug Wooden Sushi
7. I’m A Chef by The Imaginative Child
For the child who has mastered the food groups and has sampled several different cuisines, it’s time to progress to more advanced pretend play. The I’m A Chef kit by The Imaginative Child is the perfect all in one solution. It comes with an apron and hat, several kitchen gadgets and recipe cards for all of those secret family recipes.
Buy it from Amazon: Imaginative Child I’m A Chef!
8. Red Retro Kitchen by Pottery Barn
With all of these fabulous foods, your child is certain to need a kitchen with which to express their culinary genius. The Pottery Barn Red Retro Kitchen is guaranteed to do just that. It comes with everything your child needs to create fabulous imaginary meals ““ even the kitchen sink! By introducing your child to these culinary toy delights, they should progress to serving you breakfast in bed in no time.
Buy it from Amazon: Kidkraft Red Retro Kitchen
