Which wooden kitchen (for children)?

[23e Heure]

I know I risk receiving 101 differing opinions...

We are looking to buy a mini kitchen for our 2 year old.

There are more than 101 options on the internet, and I've realised that photos on the laptoip dont ever give you real idea of quality and size...

Recommendations?

[hellosailor]

The current John Lewis wooden one (country kitchen?) is nice, but expensive at ?100.

the ikea one is very good too and cheaper.

[srisky]

A couple of my daughters friends have the ikea kitchen, which is really nice and not garish at all:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70129801/

You can also buy the top half for it, which has a microwave, but the bottom half alone is fine also:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90129800/

[patt1980]

Another vote for the Ikea one. My 21 month old got it for Christmas and she is very pleased with it.

[VALFR59]

We've finally bought the IKEA one (with the top) one year ago when my son turned 2, and we are really happy with it.

I were hesitated with one, brand"kiddicare", white colour and lovely design as I didn't want something red/blue , to stay neutral in my kitchen decor... :)

IKEA is far less expensive (I think we had for 70/80? for the whole kitchen, 2 elements ) instead of nearly 200? for the other brand. We've bought a microweave at Sainsbury ans I removed the door to fix the microweave inside the microweave cupboard of the IKEA kitcken . Like that it's wooden and interactive like the plastic kitchens ( often the funniest for kids).

Also, the good point with IKEA children kitchen, is that you have the" ceramic plate" the child can switch on/off with some lights appeared!

[sanity girl]

I like the Le Toy Van one because it's not too big and can be stored on a shelf/unit easily and it's quite attractive. My son is delighted with his.

[Grotty]

IKEA definitely. Its nice looking. Our kids love it and friends with kids have also gone on to buy one having seen ours. Its a winner...

[KateW]

We bought the Little Tikes Wooden Kitchen for our 26 month old daughter a few months ago. It wasn't cheap, but we figured it was probably something she would play with for years. It's fantastic and she plays with it every single day. It has lots of cupboards to open and keep things in, which she loves.

[GinaG3]

We bought the John Lewis deluxe one 2 years ago. They've stopped selling now and replaced with the country style but they are fab quality if you don't mind spending ?100+ taken quite a lot of knocks and bangs and still in a brilliant condition bar a few very small chips in the paint work. Nice and roomy too!

Ikea ones look good too, but only seen them online so cant really comment. Many people seem happy and they are a very reasonable price for wooden.

[snowboarder]

We have a pintoy one - great for two children as is 2 sided - so not too much elbowing out of the way - each can have a side, and pretty small in footprint. Such a great toy - my 2 boys love it :-)

http://www.babipur.co.uk/shop/images/pintoy_kitchen_utility_island%20t.jpg

[hellosailor]

I forgot to say, when I was in John Lewis to buy the country style wooden kitchen they have just started selling, one of the staff on the shop floor told me that they still had some of the previous wooden kitchen in the back, reduced to ?60ish, which if you asked them for you could still buy. They might still have some if you phone up and ask?

[pilsbury]

we have the little tikes one - not cheap, something like ?140, but my little girl loves it and is definitely built to last! note of caution - its a bugger to put together, took my other half nearly three hours on xmas eve, but like I say its v sturdy so its worth all the effort as you know there's no way it'll collapse on your little one and should survive any toddler tantrums :)

[Piaf]

Ikea one all the way - its the favourite toy for my daughter for over 18 mths and is also good for storing some toys

[gebbjane]

Another vote for the little tikes one, as others say not cheap but love the fact it has all the appliances, especially the washing machine as my daughter loves to help me with the washing.

[StraferJack]

To roadtest, the ikea one is often to be found in childrens' playrooms (florence pub for example) and my daughter adores it. So that's the one we got for Christmas and over a month later I'm still getting "freshly cooked" meals every day.

Whole tomatoe in milk? delicious

[irishnkiwifamily]

We have had the Ikea model for almost 18 months, both our daughters play with it solidly. I find that it is a good quality product, very safe and really supports their role/pretend play. Also, I have seen this in many nurseries locally, so it is a very popular option. Enjoy.

[osborne&warwick]

We bought this one for our daughter for Christmas and she loves it. It is quite small as well so not too intrusive if in a living room or kitchen as opposed to play room

http://www.gltc.co.uk/carnaby-wooden-play-kitchen/kitchens--and-amp;-play-food/gltc/fcp-product/10002252

[23e Heure]

Thank you to everyone for your advice.

We plumped for the IKEA one, and she is delighted with it :-)

If anyone else is in the market for one of these things, it's worth remembering that only some kitchens come with utensils etc., so budget for that if your choice does not...