Moreover, this type of play encourages the growth of language, communication, and complex negotiation skills. We considered these criteria and more during testing in the real world before narrowing down our list of the best play kitchens.

Educational Toys | Montessori Toys | Mattel

Some of the benefits of symbolic play is it encourages imagination, utilizes social interactions, and helps with communication skills," explains Dr. A spacious refrigerator opens to keep play food fresh, and it comes equipped with an ice maker that dispenses pretend cubes (another hit with kiddos who played with this kitchen). Once completed, the play kitchen boasts a large refrigerator, dishwasher, shelf space, deep freezer, and sink. The fiberboard and birch plywood showed no wear and tear, even with a 5-year-old slamming the doors out of excitement.Moreover, we spoke with a pediatrician and reviewed guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on the benefits of pretend play. We assembled all 22 play kitchens we tested to determine how complicated or easy the setup would be.

Verywell Family The 10 Best Play Kitchens of 2023 - Verywell Family

It’s important to consider how many children will play with the kitchen, the material you prefer, and the brand. Setting up the play kitchen was cumbersome with lots of parts and pieces, but we assembled everything in about an hour and a half by following instructions closely (in typical Ikea fashion, these have pictures only). While it comes with two pretend ice cubes and a pretend grocery list, it doesn't have any pots, pans, food, utensils, or other play kitchen accessories. Aspiring chefs will have a blast with this kid's play kitchen that features sounds and lights for a realistic cooking experience. Children can cook meals for the family with the included pan and utensils, then add some seasoning with the salt and pepper shakers.This is nicer than mommy’s kitchen,” said a 3-year-old tester when he encountered KidKraft’s impressive Farm to Table Play Kitchen (thanks, kid!