When Did You Get Rid of the Play Kitchen?

I'm 47 and we just got rid of MY play kitchen last year when my mom downsized. lol My kids played with it as well. =0)

About 5. She had not played with it for a long time. She also was in preschool and played with the one they had there. Gave it to a neighbor with younger children.

She never looked back, because we actually baked and I let her help prepares items all of the time in the real kitchen.

I'll let you know when ours goes! LOL!! My girls are 12 and 14 and we still have it!. It is in the basement now and gets touched rarely, but interestingly enough recently had a renewed interest. A whole group of 12 to 14 year old in the basement created a small "town" each girl had a space that was either their apartment or their jobs.... It was nice to see them really playing with their imaginations at an age when many think they are too cool to play. (Especially play anything not electronic)

I recall one parent who donated her nice wooded one to the kindergarten classroom.

If you have a friend with young kids, you could give it to them. Then, if she asks to play with it, you could always arrange a playdate with the friends to 'visit' it (as long as she really understands that it doesn't belong to her anymore of course).

My kids like knowing who their stuff is going to. It makes it easier for them to give it away.

If she says she's "done" with it, I would get rid of it.
Maybe, hold on to it for a week or so if you have the space.

My 13yo still has one, and YES she still plays with it. :)

Mine was done with her play kitchen when she was done with preschool. She never played with it all that much anyway. She preferred being in the real kitchen with me and her brother.

I got rid of ours when my youngest was five and started kindergarten. There was a play kitchen in the kindergarten classroom, so I figured he had lots of opportunity to play with it at school. I also spent more time cooking and baking in the real kitchen with the kids by that point.

Aw, I had a hard time letting go of the play kitchen too! But ours was in the corner of our real kitchen, so even when my kids were getting older we still had cousins and friends that would play when they came over, for quite a while actually. I think my youngest was 10 or 11 when I finally gave it to some friends.
Can you store it in the garage or basement for a while? I would give it six months and see if she's truly "done" with it.

My daughter had the plastic one...not a wood one...she was done playing with it by the time she was 6 - MAYBE 7....and that was pushing it. We ended up giving it to one of our friends who had a younger daughter.

Since she's six and she wants to "play house" in the future? Have her work in the kitchen with you.

List it on craigslist and let it go....your daughter even said she was done with it...

That one was harder to get rid of, but by the time my youngest was around 5 I think we did. It wasn't used often enough to keep it.

Put it in the basement or in the garage where it's not readily accessible, but still in the house. Give it a couple of months to be sure she's done. You can put an old sheet over it so she doesn't see it and want you to drag it back in the house after 2 days, but see how she feels over time.

You could save it until spring, and if she's really done, put it in a yard sale or in a resale shop, and let her have the money for something new (or half the money, whatever your arrangement is). She might then get the value of repurposing things and moving on to things for older kids.

Is there somewhere you can put it for a week or so just to be sure? My daughter had a scooter that she said she did not want anymore. I put it in the basement for a few weeks. After a week, she said she wanted to play with it. We brought it back up to play and after a week she said she was sure---it was boring for her at that point. There was a little girl in the neighborhood that she gave it to.

My daughter got rid of hers roughly around the same age, except ours was in our kitchen so I was ready to see it go. She didn't really play with it at the time and said she was okay with getting rid of it. She hasn't asked for another one. I do see her playing with other peoples when we go over to visit but thats about the extent of it. If she says she's ready and doesn't really play with it anymore might as well give it to someone else to enjoy.

We moved ours outside to the playhouse to give it "new" life. I kind of regret it though, because even though it stirred up some new excitement about it, and gives them something to do in the bottom part of their playstructure thingy, it kind of ruined it. You know how "outdoor toys" get.

But the girls were about 3 and 6 at the time. That's probably why I regret it, the 3 y/o would have continued to play on it indoors. I needed the space though.

Around age 5 or 6. At that point they changed over to helping me cook and bake real food.

Consider doing something new with it. I've seen a few really neat projects upcycling cabinets and desks into play kitchens, I don't see why you couldn't upcycle a nice play kitchen into a craft area or something nifty. :-)

If she wants to keep it then keep it, if she's done then find a family with younger kids and gift it to them.

Our kids had little tykes and when they were done inside we moved it outside and they played with it outside another couple of years. Hers being wood won't do that of course but it should be her choice.

I hear you on this one. I actually gave mine to a friend when my daughter was about 5. My daughter still played with it, but not all that much. I knew, from experience, that both of my kids played with it the most when they were 2/3. So, I passed it on to a friend with a 1 year old. Her daughter LOVES it and plays with it every day. I feel so much better knowing how much fun her daughter is having with it. My daughter casually missed it, but didn't REALLY miss it.

I believe my dd was about 9...we sold it on Craigslist and she had lots of fun with the money she made, bought apps for her ipod touch.