Playing in the Kitchen

Children love creative play that imitates the activities they see Mom and Dad perform — like cooking! For generations, little chefs have dished up everything from mud pies to elaborate tea parties using realistic, make-believe toys. Kitchen play sets deliver an educational recipe for fun times that allows children to pretend they can cook, just like grown-ups! The Giggle Guide^® has found some products to help kids cook up all kinds of make-believe adventures with pretend goodies! Add HaPe, Guidecraft and KidKraft to your retail product menus!

HaPe Play Kitchens Satisfy Kid’s Hunger for Make-Believe!

HaPe offers 2 different kitchen play sets, My Creative Cookery Club and My First Kitchen, that encourages children to imagine they are either world-class chefs, or just good cooks like their mom or dad!

My Creative Cookery Club is ideal for alone playtime, or for groups. This wooden kitchen play set features an oven with a window, cupboard, sink, stove and even a little utensil rack. It comes well-stocked for play, with toy food, pots and pans and salt and pepper shakers. HaPe’s craftsmanship, with factories in Canada, Eastern China and Germany, earned a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award for 2007.

HaPe’s My First Kitchen features a 32-piece set that includes everything little chefs need to create delicious play meals. The set includes an easy-to-assemble wooden stove and oven, a complete “shopping list” of play food, pots, pans and utensils. All the kids need to add is a touch of imagination, and a full serving of fun! My First Kitchen won the 2007 Parenting Magazine Best Toy of the Year Award and is designed for children over the age of 3.

See both kitchen play sets at http://www.educo.com

Dream Meals are Delicious Fun with Guidecraft

Guidecraft has been providing quality wooden toys to retailers for 45 years. With 13 different models of kitchen play sets to choose from, parents can easily find a kitchen set with all the ingredients necessary to satisfy their child’s appetite for play. The bright colors and pretty designs engage children’s interest, while the realistic kitchen components spark their imaginations.

With attention to detail, all Guidecraft sets feature rounded corners and smooth edges for added safety. The kitchen play sets include microwaves, refrigerators and sinks that can stand alone or be grouped together to create a child’s well-equipped dream play kitchen.

To see all the Guidecraft cooking play sets, from tea party pantries and kitchenettes to sinks and fully-equipped fantasy kitchens, visit www.guidecraft.com/products/134265

KidKraft Offers Everything, Plus the Kitchen Sink!

KidKraft has been helping children exercise their imaginations for over 40 years. The company was founded by engineers, so parents can be sure each kitchen play set is well designed and will last for years.

Each KidKraft’s kitchen play set is made of wood and is a perfect toy to pass on from generation to generation. The 13 different styles of brightly-colored kitchen play sets KidKraft offers mimic real kitchens and include refrigerators, microwaves, and telephones to keep them busy for hours at a time. They’ve even thrown in a kitchen sink!

Visit KidKraft’s entire collection of kitchen sets at http://www.kidkraft.com/toys-and-playsets/kitchens/kitchens

What products have you found that help children safely play “grown-up” activities or occupations? Add your comments here!