My daughter is 2 and half years old and pretend play is foremost on her list these days. So, she loves making tea in her tea-set and serving us, playing a doctor or a teacher to her stuffed toys.

A kitchen set is dear to every girl and I recently chanced upon one by Hape Toys which we bought for our baby. Here is a review of the same.

 

 

The kitchen comprises of 7 piece wooden set which includes a kitchen counter with basin, a refrigerator, an oven, 2 saucepans with 1 lid and a mixer. It also has a cute little kitchen towel. My girl loves playing with it but I do not give her the saucepans as they too small. To be fair, it is meant for kids 3+ years, but it is still good fun for kids to be able to open their refrigerator, keep stuff inside, pretend baking a cake and washing utensils too.

 

I am infact planning to make a dollhouse for her and these will form the perfect appliances for her kitchen.

According to HapeToys, this set helps in building:

Imagination & Creativity

Encourages imitative and imaginary play; promotes fantasy story telling, role playing, and creativity.

Social Skills

The basics of communication, cooperation, and collaboration; encourages trust, friendship, and language development

 

Main Materials

Wood, Water based paint, Fabric, PC, ABS

 

PRICE : INR 1100/-

 

Pros

Made of excellent wood, non-toxic and very good finishing. No sharp edges here.

Looks quite real and colors are light and soothing.

Very sturdy and durable.

Cons

Size is quite small.

Saucepans etc can pose choking risk

Price is quite high

 

Our Experience

Aanya was very excited upon getting this, but she is gradually losing interest. But she still plays with it off and on and I am sure will continue playing with it for at least couple more years. Her favourite among those is the refrigerator. These can also be used inside a dollhouse as I am planning, so for me it was a good buy. 

 

Photos courtsey: http://www.hapetoys.com/