Toddler Boy N Kitchen Play Set

There is no such thing as "girl toys" and "boy toys." There are simply toys and kids who like to play with them. Let him play with whatever toys he likes, whether it's dolls or dump trucks.

Honestly - the very best most creative non stop fascinating toy at this age is a big cardboard box.
Get one from an appliance store.
Cut holes in it for windows, decorate the sides any way you want, and you've got a fort which will provide months of fun right up until it falls apart and you throw it into recycling.

Too bad you are so far away - I have one my little gal has outgrown and will be letting go! And we got it from a guy who had gotten it for his son! Go for it!

That's when I started my son cooking with M.. When he wanted to be copying M. (a little younger with mine).

By age 5 he was a really good prep cook

Now at age 10... He's a good cook. Period.

----
I've never been a fan of play kitchens, when the reveal thing is RIGHT THERE, to be 'played' in 3x or more a day. By the time its a 'chore', its a habit. Just something done automatically. Time to cook, and he's coming in and grabbing stuff and we chat and cook.

On a developmental side cooking teaches gross and fine motor, sensory perception, sequential ordering, cause and effect, and more. Even 1yos can rip, stir dry things, stack. 2yos are measuring, stirring dry/wet, adding, shaking, twisting caps, squeezing, etc. it takes longer until age 4 or 5... And then you've got your own assistant, and times start reducing dramatically. Molto bene!!!

My son loved and still has fun with, all the "cooking" toys/sets we have.
My son is now 6.
But now, he also helps M. actually cook, in the kitchen.

Many of the great Chefs in the world, are men. As well.

Kitchen sets, are basically unisex, things.
It is not, female only.

Children, should or be allowed to play with.. what *they* enjoy.
Period. Especially if it is creative and child appropriate.

Growing up, my late Dad taught M. all kinds of things. Even construction.
And, compared to my Husband... it is *M.* that actually knows more than him... about fixing and repairing things and about construction and structures. And, I am a girl.

My son is 6 and my daughter is older. And they both play together, with a wide variety of things. My son even likes those "Littlest Pet Shop" toys. And he loves Superhero things too and cars and Star Wars and Dinosaurs and he also loves his stuffed animals. And he has no hang ups.

I've been doing in home care forever. Age dosn't matter the boys play with the kitchen set, dolls, doll house just as much the girls play with cars, legos,action figures. They all play together. And isn't that what we as mothers want to teach our sons and daughters. That they can do what ever they want and pretending is a great learning tool. Heck my 17 year old son can out cook and clean his older sisters.

Who said a kitchen isn't for a boy?? Personally i love a man who can cook and what better way to encourage him in his interest? A workbench? Does he even like tools? Don't mean to sound rude but it sounds like your pushing for him to like "manly" toys vs. what he enjoys. Let him have it, I know plenty of men who played with Barbie dolls and baby dolls and women who played with action figures and trucks, they all ended up being happy kids, and well rounded adults. Don't get sucked into society and what's expected for a certain sex, it means nothing for kids to play with toys intended for the opposite sex. Go for it mama I'm sure his playmates will also enjoy the kitchen play set. You might have the next top chef on your hands.

I have 3 boys, and our play kitchen gets used several times a day (for the past 3 years). Mostly they just like to be able to put things in/out of the cupboard, and make meals of wooden and plastic food to feed to M..

I paid $20 for a garage sale one, but I'd bet you can even find a free one on Craigslist or Freecycle.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Definitely get it for him. He's at a great age and will probably get 2-3 years of playtime before he outgrows it. He will probably also like cars, trucks, and/or trains, but he will still love the kitchen too.

My son is 5.5 and we got his kitchen at 18 months. Up until about 6 months ago, he still played with it a lot. Now, he still plays with it sometimes, but mostly because his younger sister initiates it.

I think a kitchen is one of the best purchases you can make. It gives them a chance to be creative, use their imaginations, and it teaches them that boys can cook too!

Boys get into cars and trucks because we are programmed to purchase those types of toys for boys, as we are programmed to purchase dolls for girls. In actuality, children will often cross gender play when left alone in a room full of various toys.

Growing up I had erector sets, Lincoln logs, footballs, bb guns, barbies, and GI joe dolls. My sister and I played with toys across the gender lines.

Kitchen sets are great, creative toys that children can play with for years. He can play chef, or bodega owner, or shopper. Play money can be introduced later as a cognitive learning skill.

My son, at three, had typical "boy" toys, gender neutral toys, and his favorite for while, a Polly Pocket set that he fell in love with one day. He carried that set with him consistently for months. It was really funny when Polly would "drive" the bulldozer.

My friend found a lovely play kitchen at the local thrift store for $5. She added some play food sets from the dollar store and had a great play set for under $10.

He will play with what ever you buy him if it's a kitchen play set or a hot wheels track. There is nothing wrong with him having and playing with a kitchen play set either. My son is 6 and likes to play with the one in the toddler room at our church and he would probably play with one if he had it at home too. It's all part of the gender stereotyping, don't buy into it cause at his age, it is nothing more than a toy. Heck my son takes more interest in what I'm doing in the kitchen than my 12 yr old daughter does!! And she also had hotwheels as a kid and preferred to play with that than dolls. She never owned a Barbie in her life and never asked for one either.

It's hard enough to buy good quality toys for kids, try not to over think it.

S.

Both my girls and my boys liked playing with kitchen sets. At that age children like to play at the things they see Mama and Daddy doing. One of my boys progressed from play cooking to playing around with real food in the real kitchen and is now in the food service industry. He is also a black belt in taekwondo (testing for this third degree belt soon) and cheers all the sports teams around here.

There's no telling, of course, but your boy may get into the car and truck thing later and still like the kitchen - *real* kitchens have become popular places for men these days.

You might be able to find a kitchen set more inexpensively on Craigslist. I'd save the workbench idea for when he's a little older.

My friend's son is almost 6 and still plays frequently with his kitchen. His parents got the one from IKEA. Your son may like cars and trucks and STILL like kitchens. Friend's son also bakes with both his parents (his dad is a big fan of Alton Brown) so if your son likes to help in the kitchen in general, then I think the kitchen set is a good idea. I think Costco has a decent one for $30. My DD's kitchen came from freecycle. If you are not sure, you can buy one inexpensively.

Take your toy cues from him. If he likes kitchens, get him a kitchen. Some girls at my DD's age are all about Barbie, but my kid likes dinosaurs. Okay, so she has a Jurassic Park of figures instead of a trunk of nekkid Barbies like I did. Your son will tell/show you what he likes and just buy what encourages him.

We bought our son a kitchen set and he loved it. We bought it used on Craigslist and sold it there again when he was finished with it. He loved his kitchen and played with it most every day. Even now that the kitchen set is long gone, he is still the first one to volunteer to help with cooking.

If he is old enough to figure out how to play with a kitchen playset, then he is old enough to figure out how to play with a workbench/tools. Playing with them is how they learn about them. I would personally look for a used kitchen playset and/or a used workbench. We had both for my boys, but they both preferred to help M. in the real kitchen (measuring, pouring, setting the table, loading the dishwasher etc), or going with dad to the home depot kids workshops. I was able to sell them both pretty easily. My boys were both into cars and trucks by the time they could crawl. They loved anything with wheels. They also like building with the big Megablocks or Lego Duplo at that age, and liked Fisher Price Little People.

My son loved going to Nana's house and playing with her kitchen set. He will play with it off and on for another year. Heck my 4.5 yr old saw a kitchen set in an ad yesterday and said he wanted it. Maybe b/c he doesn't have one daily, so it's a fun "new" toy.

I say $40 is worth it. It's a great way to use creativity and learn role-playing. Try Craigslist or a Second-hand store to get it cheaper. My parent's just sold theirs at a garage sale.

Why not get him a kitchen set? if you're worried about gender roles or whatever, don't buy a pink one. Kids will like what they like. And I'll tell you, boy or girl, so far up to age 6, whenever kids come to our house, they gravitate to the toy vacuum and the toy kitchen. If your son wants a kitchen, go ahead and get him one!

I did not read all of your responses. He's your first, but will he be your last? If you have the room to keep it I would invest in a better kitchen, that is if you ate planning on having more.

We had a Step2. I sold ours last November on Craigs list and included all of the food, dishes, tea sets, pots & pans that we had accumulated over the years. All of the electronics still worked, & I ended up with $75. I was happy and the Dad that bought it was thrilled because our kitchen was in such great shape and he didn't have to build it. So either buy a new one or check Craigslist. Step2 and Little Tykes items last forever & have good resale because of that.

I still remember the first Christmas that our daughter got her kitchen! The boys next door loved it too! :)

I think he will love it for years to come but all kids go through phases. Like my son played with his little kitchen for a while and then didn't touch it for ages, then was back on a kitchen kick! It is true that boys do get enamored with more cars, action figures etc but they still love to cook. My oldest saw this episode of Caillou where they were playing restaurant and so we played Joshua's restaurant for ages and the kitchen came in very handy at that time. So will he play with it daily...yeah for a while, but I think it is worth it bc my son was just in LOVE with the kitchen when he got it and when friends came over it was the very first thing they ran to, boy and girl alike :)

My son played with the kitchen set at his daycare/preschool until he was about 3-1/2 -4. Lasted longer than the train set we bought him, so I would consider buying a kitchen - if you have room. We decided to let him help in the real kitchen because those kitchen sets seem to take up quite a bit of space.

I would definitely buy it for him. Like any new toy, he'll play with a ton at first, and then move onto something else for awhile, but will go back to playing with it. My son loved the kitchen set that we bought when our daughter was a toddler. I think he played with it even more and for longer than she did. I wish we'd saved it for our third. It's the first thing he runs to when we go to the library.

Get him a kitchen set!

My son is my youngest. He's 10 years younger than his sister. He LOVED his kitchen sets. He had several. He would "pretend" cook for hours.

He never outgrew his love for the kitchen. As he got older, I let him help M. prepare meals. His favorite show was Iron Chef. He always spoke of wanting to be a chef himself.

He's 17 now, and an AMAZING cook. I don't mean he can whip up some spaghetti or tacos. He can cook anything! He's actually a better cook than I am because he truly loves it. I've been a single mom basically his whole life, and for a long time, as long as I have things in the refrigerator, he's had dinner started or already done by the time I get home from work.

Kitchen play may be a passing fancy for your little one, but there is nothing wrong with encouraging his imaginative play. There is certainly nothing wrong with fostering an appreciation for cooking. I know my son will never go hungry and he'll never have to rely on a woman to cook for him.

I don't think a kitchen set is a waste of money. Have fun eating lots of "pretend" food and tell your son how yummy it is.

Best wishes.

its a kitchen not a barbie. my daughter plays with dolls and monster trucks... does pageants and like to help my husband gut deer. children have a wide range of interest. i would get him a kitchen :) look on craigslist their could be a gently used one on there and you can get play food and such.

I say buy one. Even look for one used.
One of my friends who had four kids told M. something that made a lot of sense. She said boys like to play w/ kitchen sets for a simple reason, it is something they witness every day=mom/dad in the kitchen. There's nothing wrong w/ it, it doesn't make them "girly" Its the reality of what they see daily. Most likely your son will not be in a garage or workshop any time soon, so the desire for those kinds of toys may be later on.
I bought our 4 year old an inexpensive workbench for Christmas last year and it was a total flop. He still plays w/ his play kitchen and so does my two year old. Neither one of them really play w/ cars either.
I plan on raising my boys to know their way around a real kitchen too. And it's fun to let them "make" you soup, a sandwich etc. I say do it!

My son loved it and played with it a lot for a few years, between 2 and 4.
I DID have a hard time finding him one that wasn't all girly pink and purple, I ended up buying it at a preschool supply store. But that was 18 years ago, I think they are a bit more unisex now. Try Ikea if you have one nearby!
p.s. He still likes to cook, and as a college sophomore, the girls LOVE it :-)

I didn't read all the responses because there are a lot of them! But I am glad the general idea is go ahead and get it. They ARE expensive, so maybe you could buy one off of Craigslist or at a mom2mom sale?

My son and daughter loved their kitchen set and played with it for years. We saved a lot of the pretend food and they still use it occasionally (now ages 7 & 9). I made a lot of the felt food (tons of patterns on Etsy). Felt food is fun to make, soft and safe.

Little cars and trucks are great too. I recommend Plan City which is all wood and safe paint. You can add on new parts each year (another set that has gotten lots of play over the years). You could also go with a train set or larger Legos. What a fun age!

My son loved the play kitchen, and the toy workbench and the cars and trucks when he was young. We didn't buy him the kitchen though, it was my daughter's and got passed down when she outgrew it. You can probably sell it on craigslist when you're done with it

My son loved his kitchen playset till he was 5. I remember when he was about 4 he loved to pretend it was his restaurant. He would make a menu (with squiggles for writing), read it to M., serve M., etc. It was very cute. We got a hand M. down one. Maybe you could look on freecycle and craigslist for one instead of getting a new one. My son never liked cars and boy action toys when he was little. He loved musical instruments and he loved marble runs - his two obsessions. Oh, and he loved music and dancing. He hated all the "boy" cartoons bc he thought they were scary. Now he is 8 and he is very very BOY. He now likes all the boy stuff. Honestly, I never worried about it. Men make awesome chefs...to M. a kitchen is for both genders.

I bought one for my son when he was3 and he still occasionally uses it at 6. I got it at a garage sale and it had dishes, food and pots and pans. They charged M. $5! Look on craigs list or at resale shops. I try to get these bigger items used because kids don't notice at this age. You might get other ideas on craigs list too!

My son just turned 8, we got the kitchen set for my daughter early on and he plays with it more than she did. He still loves it. Not sure about the ex's house but here daddy cooks. I wouldn't worry about it, if u can find a decently stocked one at a sale go for it, he will enjoy it.

If he loves the kitchen, get him a kitchen! When he outgrows, you can always sell on craigslist or give it away. I believe that its totally fine to have a kitchen for boys. There are tons of male cooks and men/dads who cook in the kitchen. Go for it!

We got our son a very simple kitchen set when he was 2. It has a small range top and a separate small sink. (Both are about about 5" x 10" and pretty flat. They can simply be put on the floor or on top of a table.) Plus various foods that can be sliced using a small play knife and cutting board. We gave him some old tupperware, small plastic plates and cups, and play silverware as well. He loves playing chef. The big plastic container we store everything in becomes a table when we use one of his old receiving blankets to wrap around it. He sits his stuffed animals, superhero figures, and toy story friends around the table. Then he practices giving menus to the customers, taking orders, preparing food, washing the dishes, how to properly handle a knife, how to stack the dishes in the dish rack, and sometimes we add in paying for the meal now that he is 5 years old and more interested in money since the tooth fairy has recently visited him.

After playing with his little restaurant, he has started telling M. ideas for meals and how he thinks they should be cooked. Sometimes, I even have tried some of his creations. There are many men who enjoy cooking. My husband cooks. We split the cooking fairly evenly prior to our son joining our family. Now I do most of the weekdays, while my husband cooks on the weekends and during holidays. Let your son play with a toy kitchen if he is interested. Better yet, use it as a stepping stone to helping in the real kitchen. Our son likes helping us prepare meals. He helps get ingredients, washes vegetables, mixes bread and cake batter, rolls noodles, gets spices and herbs, wipes the table, puts dishes in the sink. He understands not to touch something dangerous in the kitchen. He also knows not to be in the kitchen cooking area without mom or dad. He still enjoys playing with his toy restaurant as well.

A friend of mine has 2 boys that are now 4 and 5 and they still play with their kitchen play set. Why shouldn't he have one? Lots of boys and men enjoy cooking and some even pursue careers in culinary arts, so it shouldn't be about it being more of a "girl toy" or a "boy toy". He can still play with a toy work bench and tool set, and they make toy barbeque grill sets too!

Yes, get him the playset - ours is great - it has a kitchen on on side and a BBQ grill on the other. You can look on Craigs list or something to buy one second hand.

Also, can he help you in the real kitchen at all? Maybe he can help pour and stir some basic things - like packaged brownies or muffins or something. Encourage this interest!