Easy Bake Oven for a boy?

[jacksmomma]

DS 3 loves to cook and watch Rachael Ray. I am thinking of getting him an easy bake oven for Christmas, but I know that I will catch flack for getting my son a "girl's" toy from some of the family. So what is your opinion, is it bad for a boy to have an easy bake oven? Also are they totally pink these days? My oven was brown, but that was back in the 70s when everything was brown!

 

[Darcy03231]

I'd do it, but then I bought my son his own Barbies when he was younger so he could play with his sister (she wouldn't let him use hers).

My son is now a sophomore in high school loves to cook. He's taking some culinary courses at the high school this year and is really enjoying them. I don't see anything wrong with encouraging something he likes.

 

[Chip's My Hero]

honestly? Nope nothing wrong with it at all. My 13 DS LOVES to cook. He spends hours in the kitchen with myself and when he can with his grandfather. He takes the title of suez (spelling?) chef very seriously.

I think most of the ovens are pink and purple at this point, but I'm not sure.

 

[princeydisness]

I say the worst that could happen is he ends up rich and famous like Emeril!

 

[California Jenn]

I agree with the PP. Encouraging his enjoyment of cooking is a great idea.

 

[dwfanatic]

Last year I bought the Girl Gourmet cupcake maker for DS(5) and now he wants the Girl Gourmet Cake maker thingy (not sure of the name). He specifically calls it "Girl Gourmet" and KNOWS it's marketed for girls...We don't care and DH is NOT a girlie-man... We see no problem with it. We explain to people that our sons will make loving and compasionate fathers and husbands...hopefully....that or at least they will know how make tasty baked goods!!!

 

[mickimousemama]

Last Year DS (then5) BEGGED for an Easybake oven for his 6th Bday, they have them in a blue green color He absolutely LOVES it, He has been a food lover for quite some time, this year his entire birthday party is going to be a Chef Theme, he's been planning it for MONTHS, and is very excited for November to hurry and get here!

 

[CandyHead09]

DS 3 loves to cook and watch Rachael Ray. I am thinking of getting him an easy bake oven for Christmas, but I know that I will catch flack for getting my son a "girl's" toy from some of the family. So what is your opinion, is it bad for a boy to have an easy bake oven? Also are they totally pink these days? My oven was brown, but that was back in the 70s when everything was brown!

haha thats so cool! he wants to cook :] I'm sixteen now so when i was about 8 I had an easy bake oven and it was purple and pink I tihkn oyu might be able to find a blue and white one i thuoght I saw one that color a little while ago while shopping for my niece.

If you really dont want to hear it from family members then why not buy him a toy kitchen with pretend food and stuff? Those are also very fun :]

 

[brergnat]

I have a 5 year old son like that too. He loves to cook and do "household" stuff like vacuuming and laundry.

However, he likes to do this stuff for REAL. He'd rather bake REAL stuff in the kitchen with me. I was like this too, as a kid. I ALSO begged my parents for an easy bake oven one year for Christmas. I used it approximately ONE time.

I think, in general, these things are a waste of money and space. The "mixes" are just add water, and the cakes are pretty gross. I would, instead, try to encourage REAL baking in the kitchen, WITH your child, which teaches a lot more skills than just cooking (math, sequencing, science, etc.) You can find a really great kid's baking cookbook, and have fun trying all the recipes. Instead of the money spent on the oven, perhaps get him his own set of baking "utensils", like plastic measuring cups and spoons, a spatula, some fun silicone baking molds, etc.

My biggest disappointment with the easy bake oven was how long everything took to bake, and then, the final product was always SO underwhelming...

 

[happymommy]

While I agree that it is totally cool to get the oven for a boy, I got one for my daughter (who loves sweets and helping with cooking and baking) when she was really little. Well, it has been used one or two times. It isn't that the thing was expensive, it isn't (maybe $20 at most) but the mixes are gross. We made a couple of things, then I put the other mixes in the pantry. They have sat there for years, and I really need to toss them (expired long ago). They aren't super bad, but just not great. Kind of a waste.

I wonder if there are any cooking classes you could look into instead in your county. Or get a couple of really nice mixes, with a note saying you were going to let him "make" them (with help). Like a nice cake or brownies. Williams Sonoma has nice baking things. It would be more fun to do that, cut them up, and serve them to friends or family for dessert. I wish I'd done that - I need to get rid of our once used Easy Bake Oven - it is brand new and we never use it. Or... Some restaurants here have deals where they let the kids visit the kitchen, like with the scouts, maybe something like that would be fun.

Whatever you do, good for you, it is always cool for our kids to learn something new!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I have a 5 year old son like that too. He loves to cook and do "household" stuff like vacuuming and laundry.

However, he likes to do this stuff for REAL. He'd rather bake REAL stuff in the kitchen with me. I was like this too, as a kid. I ALSO begged my parents for an easy bake oven one year for Christmas. I used it approximately ONE time.

I think, in general, these things are a waste of money and space. The "mixes" are just add water, and the cakes are pretty gross. I would, instead, try to encourage REAL baking in the kitchen, WITH your child, which teaches a lot more skills than just cooking (math, sequencing, science, etc.) You can find a really great kid's baking cookbook, and have fun trying all the recipes. Instead of the money spent on the oven, perhaps get him his own set of baking "utensils", like plastic measuring cups and spoons, a spatula, some fun silicone baking molds, etc.

My biggest disappointment with the easy bake oven was how long everything took to bake, and then, the final product was always SO underwhelming...

I totally agree, they are a disappointment. Finding the 100 watt, not frosted bulb is tough too. If you really want to try it and are sure you DH won't approve of a girly toy, look into a queasy bake oven. It seems like the same thing, just "gross" so dads won't mind.

 

[LuvBaloo]

I think its fine to get a cooking thing for your DS, I just don't like the Easy Bake Oven. The kids still need help to use it, the pans are hot enough to burn little fingers, and if I'm having to participate, I'd much rather participate with real food that tastes good. I wish my DD had never been given one, as she thinks she wants to do it, but just gets frustrated with it. I had one as a kid, and just found it frustrating myself.

Instead I'd suggest getting him his own apron (his own size), a small rolling pin, cookie cutters and some little icing decorating tubes so he can do some real baking. I've enjoyed having frozen cookie dough in the freezer, and just pulling out enough to make 6 or 12 cookies. My kids can then have fun shaping the cookies and putting them on the cookie sheet and then later decorating them.

Why can't they make more of the kitchen stuff less girly colours? I really don't think we need to start stereotyping kitchen work as girly that young.

 

[teresajoy]

DS 3 loves to cook and watch Rachael Ray. I am thinking of getting him an easy bake oven for Christmas, but I know that I will catch flack for getting my son a "girl's" toy from some of the family. So what is your opinion, is it bad for a boy to have an easy bake oven? Also are they totally pink these days? My oven was brown, but that was back in the 70s when everything was brown!

Wow, it never occured to me NOT to buy my son an Easy Bake oven when he asked for one when he was little! Actually I ended up buying 3 or 4 (all bought at garage sales or Goodwill) for him because he wanted to have an Easy Bake Oven party. He made cakes for everyone in the Easy Bake Oven! He is now 17 and a WONDERFUL cook! He makes the best cinnamon rolls in the world!

 

[Tiger926]

No such thing as boys or girls stuff in this house - my DD6 and DD2 play with each other's toys each day. My baby boy loves princesses and we get headaches from others, but I am usually able to shut them up with one of my very witty comments!

My baby boy cooks all of the time, and can't wait to get his hands on any type of oven!! Happy baking, Tiger

 

[luvmy3]

I think its great that your ds loves to cook and spend time with you in the kitchen but I would totally skip the EZ bake oven. Not because its girly but because its junk, and if its anything like dd's it will end up in the closet after 2 uses never to be seen again.
If he doesn't already have a large little tikes play kitchen, (and you have the room) I'd get him one of those. And I would also get him real kids utensils and aprons and his own baking pans and stuff that he can use in your kitchen with you.

I'm sorry I know you weren't asking for what to get him besides the EZ bake, I just couldn't help myself

 

[J3nn78]

I say go for it! My boys love to cook. Last year, we got them a nice wooden kitchen. It was hard to find a non girly pink one.

 

[jacksmomma]

Thanks for all the encouragement! We do a lot of cooking around here. He has some of his own tools as well as a RR kid's cookbook and a Paula kid's cookbook. I thought the easy bake would be a fun gadget and a nice little flash back for me (my Daddy lovingly ate all my little sponge tasting creations! lol) but after the reviews here (and on Amazon) I might look into something else. I like the idea of cooking classes; maybe I can get a gift certificate for that instead.

 

[flying_babyb]

I would buy him some kid frendly (you know fun colored) spoons and bowls. I would also buy some of those easy-to-make boxed deserts and goodies from walmart (under $2 a box) and let him have supervised cooking time. I would also buy him a kids cook book (and mabey a aporn... Hey it could be a cool craft project) and mabey make up a nice homeade book of "coupons" for cooking lessons with you.

 

[ebtbmom]

My son got one for Christmas when he was little. The only problem was that it didn't work that well and the cake was gross. We sold it at a yard sale. He still enjoys cooking though, he just helped his dad cook steak and mac n cheese tonight.
Since most chefs are men, I wonder why cooking is considered a "woman's" job anyway? My husband cooks nearly all of our meals, I'm the clean up person!

 

[tadamom]

We bought our son one a couple of Christmases ago and they were making them in silver.