What Kind of Toddler Table and Play Kitchen Do You Recommend?

I got a kitchen at Goodnight Room when the twins I watch and my granddaughter were just 2 and 1. The are 5 and 4 now and it is still in great shape and they still love to play with it. It is made of solid wood (no partical board) and fairly easy to put together. It was a bit spendy, but, as someone mentioned, it will be a great heirloom piece.

I highly recomend the IKEA sets. My parents have a plastic set from IKEA and the kids love to play with it when we visit. It has also been used as a dining table for the kids when space was needed. It cleans great and the kids loved having the fun colores and table their size.
I really like the Pottery Barn Kitchen sets, but they can be pretty pricey.
Good luck!

hey there...there is a local man in the freindly neighborhood who makes them out of scrap/recycled wood. we have a beautiful unique play kitchen my 4yr old plays with daily, and has since she recieved it two years ago. the kitchens are a wonderful investment...hours of play. i know he also does little tables and chairs...he makes them so beautifully and gives them unique little touches. a few of my friends have kitchens made by him, and all of ours are different in a small way. the kitchen ws about $200ish. i don't know about the table and chairs. but you'd be paying someone local, supporting local and probably getting local wood. and it's gorgeous. he does alot of the wood work at the waldorf school. his name is tom and his number is ###-###-####. much luck. also if you don't go this route, check out www.novanatural.com . take care~S.

We have the wooden ikea set at my work and at home, it seems theyve changed it recently (cheaper materials), because the older one at my work is much sturdier. We have the big three sided kitchen from Step 2 (www.step2.com) and love it! It was only $50 or so more than the next one down, and we have two girls so it was worth it for the long run! We also have the rose petal cottage, which has kitchen and nursery accessories and a table/chair set.

We have the wooden "lack" end table (12.95) in white as a play table for our son. It goes really well with the small white wooden child chairs they sell at Ikea for $15 each. (I hate buying plastic, honestly.)

The play kitchen my son will be getting for Christmas this year is a good wooden one. I feel like that is something that can be passed down to his kids later on. I have a lovely wooden piano given to me on my first birthday that I was so thrilled to be able to give to my son for HIS first birthday. I really don't feel like plastic furniture can ever be an heirloom. We have great wooden kitchens (made here locally by a wonderful older gentleman) where I work: Milagros Boutique. I can't wait to take one home.

I just bought the wooden table and chairs from IKEA for $25.00 for the whole thing and it was super easy to put together and it cleans up well, but I only let my 21month old use washable crayons, paints, etc. I would definitely reccommend it to others. It isn't fancy, but it if very functional. It is pretty sturdy and simple and the price is awesome. For outside I got the little tikes storable picnic table and I love that table. It would work perfect inside too.
I am shopping for a kitchen too, so I will be watching the advice you get.
My best advice would be to not spend too much money, but find something of good quality with both the table and the kitchen.

Check the chairs carefully! We got a plastic set and the chairs were so tippy! It seemed my boys were always going over backwards. We ended up throwing the chairs away because they were just unstable.

I have an in-home daycare and preschool, and we have the little wooden tables and chairs from IKEA and they are a really great size for the kiddos. We have a nice wooden kitchen playset, as well as a plastic one, and they honestly like them both and use them both a LOT! I think you should not spend more than you can reap the benefits of with your family. (Meaning, if you only plan to have one or two children, buying the most expensive play kitchen out there might not be the best use of your money when they would like a cheaper set just as well.) GOd bless you and yours! :)

We have an ikea set and at nearly 2.5 she can just now get in the seats. So just make sure what you get she can sit in.

We have the little, round, plastic set from Ikea. LOVE it. It is extremely easy to keep clean. There have been any number of strange things spilled on it that I was sure was going to stain (even plastic). Everything wipes right off with standard kitchen cleaner. Also, the chairs are sturdy, don't tip too easily and my husband and I can both sit with our boy at the table and don't feel like sitting on the little chairs will break them. Hope this helps. Have fun!

Pottery Barn has a really cute set, spendy but so cute.
D.

Hi,
I really like the play kitchen at Target. It is a wooden kitchen set and is really nice and sturdy. Also, it was around 100 dollars way cheaper than pottery barn. Alot of my friends thought I bought it from Pottery Barn.
Lenc

I love the plastic table and chairs/stools from Ikea. I prefer the plastic over the wood because in my daycare i can wipe off the plastic with those sanitize wipes and if the kids color on the plastic ones it is harder to see then the wood. As far as a play kitchen? Not sure i have two they are both plastic but i have had my eyes on the wood ones. I think it is totally up to you on the style and type. I am not sure but i have heard that the wood table and wood kitchens are harder to keep germ free? not sure?

Whatever you decide, don't spend too much money on it. It's easy to over-spend with the first child. Little Tikes is the most durable brand, in my opinion. Also, I suggest you take a look at consignment shops. I have picked up some great 'gently used' items at our local ones in Bellingham.

K-mart has some great little kids papa-san (sp?) style chairs right now that don't tip easily (which is the thing to consider when buying little kid's chairs).

One other thing; decide on a home for it before you buy. I can't tell you how many huge toys my kids have had over the years that take up way too much room.

C.,

We have a small plastic picnic table that our boys love! It was a gift for Christmas from grandparents.

A friend has a small wooden table and 2 chairs that we try and share when we are over there, but they seem to prefer their picnic table

good luck,
T.

IKEA table and chairs.

Fisher Price Grow-With-Me Kitchen is about $60 and is very versatile. The best feature is that it starts out short enough for a small child, but when they get taller you can raise the height! It has a few sound effects (sizzle, water running, timer ticking and ringing) and a removable sink for water play. Our kid really loves it.

I recommend a solid top. I prefer wood but I think wooden ones are more expensive than hard plastic. I think the wooden ones will stay nice longer. She'll use it until she's 4 or 5; maybe longer.

Because the set was less expensive and on sale I purchased a set for my granddaughter that has a padded surface similar to adult sized Samsonite card tables. Over time the top tore and one of the kids pulled the flap off leaving the white padding showing. They also managed to cut into it a few times while using it.

We have the plastic (mammut collection) from IKEA and we love it. It comes in different colors and different shaped tables. We have a round one and the rectangle one. Also it has chairs and even cute little stools. (they even sell stool covers) The reason I like the set the most, however, is because when my kids accidentally draw on it with crayons or markers you can clean all the marks off with a magic eraser!

As for the kitchen- we have the wood kitchen and "market" from Target. I liked it because it was very affordable compared to other wood kitchens and it's super cute! You can also buy all the wood food and accessories at target. Watch for sales because it goes on clearance a lot.