Play kitchen for 3 yo DS. Is that weird?

[lecach]

Some people in the family think its weird that I want to get DS a kitchen for Christmas. I think it's perfectly normal - it's not pink or anything like that. He LOVES playing with the kitchen at Pottery Barn Kids (at $999 its NOT in my price range). And at his new daycare he went straight to the toy kitchen and fried some pizza for me .

This is the one I am looking at: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5913442

So - what do you all think? Is it weird to get a play kitchen for a 3 year old boy?

 

[disneynewbeemom]

Go for the kitchen! We bought our son a kitchen when he was 2 and he played with it up until age 4. He loved it! I then sold it at a consignment sale for $50!

 

[emma'smom]

Why would it be wierd? Don't any of the men in your family cook or at least heat up a pizza? A kitchen is a great practical life activity for any preschooler (and I thought it was pretty gender-neutral).

 

[wowsmom]

My son had the Chef Tony kitchen when he was little...he loved it and when he no longer wanted it, we gave it to our neighbor for her grandson, who also loved it!

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Nope. My sister had a kitchen for her three boys. And just tonight I was telling my DD that next year I was going to buy her now 2 y.o. a kitchen, since I know his older sister (11) doesn't want to share hers (which was a pass-me-down),

 

[brandylouwho]

Aren't alot of cooks men? Heck, even in our own house my husband is a better cook than I am, although I think I am a better baker.

Little kids don't have their heads cluttered with all our silly notions of male/female. Buy him the kitchen and enjoy him "cooking" for you.

Then again, I am the mom whose daughter has an extensive matchbox car collection, but only one barbie.

 

[Katy Belle]

We got our oldest son a play kitchen for his 2nd birthday. Some people did think it was weird, but he loved it. His two brothers did too when they came along! Now he's 12 and actually likes to cook My youngest is 7, a boy, and everytime I think I will give away the kitchen, he plays with it some more! Get it...you won't regret it.
Katy

 

[OhioGrumpyGirl]

My sis got her daughter one for Christmas when she was 2 (my son was 1 1/2 at the time.) My son played with it way more than my neice did!! He loved it almost as much as his Thomas trains.

 

[fakereadhed]

I am a weird mom because I had two girls before my DS. He loves to play with the kitchen toys, I bought him a boy doll, and he has a Disneyland castle set that he loves. Can I help it if their Castle is pink??? He also plays with things I couldn't have forced the girls to play with- dirt, mud, ants,monster trucks, army men, etc. The girlie stuff freaks out DH but oh well. He'll get over it.

Buy the kid a kitchen! Won't hurt him a bit..

 

[chipndales]

I'm a preschool teacher and a lot of our little boys play in the kitchen. Heck, we have some little boys who dress up in our princess dresses. A lot of men end up becoming wonderful cooks and great chefs. Go for it. If he enjoys it, definitely support him.

 

[kribit]

Of course it's not weird. Ever watched the food channel? There are some great male chefs on there.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Of couse buy the kitchen. Our boys at preschool love the kitchen, dolls etc. as much as the girls. What is sad is when a parent, most of the time a dad, comes in and gets upset that their son is playing with "girl" toys.

DS's favorite toy when he was two was a doll house my MIL gave him. He also had a baby doll or two. Never had a kitchen because he already had a little tykes tool bench he had requested and there was no more room in the house for a huge toy but we bought the dishes and pots and he used that for a kitchen a lot.

 

[Stephres]

My husband balked at the idea when I wanted to buy one for my son, but all toddler love to play pretend. It's prefectly normal. Go for it!

 

[r4blessings]

I got dd3 a kitchen for her 2nd birthday, and ds who was 1 then loved it! They still both love it and it is played with everyday! I got her the Step2 kitchen, b/c I liked the brown and green colors, and figured it was more gender friendly. Although I love the PB pink set, I think the step2 one is more appealing to kids b/c it doesn't scream "girl toy!" if you know what I mean.

Also, for ds who is now 6 we had gotten him the bitty twin boys for his 5th birthday! He asked for them, but didn't want anyone at the family birthday party to know that is what he'd gotten. I felt bad that even at only 5 years old, he seemed to sense that that is something to be embarrassed about. And he doesn't get that from me or DH, but I think there are so many signals out there that boys don't have dolls, kitchens or dollhouses. Anyway, he loved the twins and enjoyed playing with his sister who had bitty baby. So go for it! They are only young once and it would probably make his christmas!

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

Not weird at all! When dd was 2, we bought her a play kitchen and both dd and ds now plays with it. My ds is 2 and enjoys playing in the kitchen just as much as his 4 yo sister does. We bought a neutral color kitchen - green/beige ..that way they can share it. I have no problem with a boy playing with kitchens. I think it is perfectly fine...some of the best chef out there are man.

 

[lecach]

Thanks everyone! For the record, my DH is being super cool about it. He saw how much my son loved the kitchen at Pottery Barn Kids. He didn't even show concern when DS fell in love with a baby doll at the same store. When we got home I gave DS one of my old dolls and he now sleeps with it. He named her Roxy. For DS's birthday he's getting a shopping cart.

Im not worried about the girl toys/boy toys thing. DH isn't either. Heck - our DS loves his monster trucks and construction vehicles more than anything. And we both know that kids this age know nothing about the difference.

My stepfather and stepbrother are super sensitive about this kind of thing though. My Mom and DS just got to the family lakehouse this weekend and DS and his cousin started playing with a dollhouse that was there. When stepbrother came in he freaked out and hid it. If they knew DS was getting a kitchen and shopping cart -and that he sleeps with a doll named Roxy -they would have something ugly to say. I don't really care what either of them think - it's not like they are ever at our house.

I guess I just wanted to make sure that DH and I arent wrong.

 

[powellrj]

when my oldest DS was that age all he wanted was a weeper (thats what he called a vacumm cleaner) My DM got him one and he was one happy kid! He is now 24 and he is a wonderful weeper, so I look at them as great learning tools!!

 

[GEM]

Santa brought my son a fabulous Step 2 play kitchen the Christmas just before he turned 3. He's 4.5 now and still plays with it every day! I think it's a great gift for either gender. It encourages creative play and lots of other great stuff. The best thing we did was put it in our actual kitchen (we have a HUGE kitchen so we could do that). So, when we're making dinner in the real kitchen, Paul is usually in there with us making dinner in his kitchen.

It's not that great of a picture, but here you can see the one we got. I really reccomend the Step 2 stuff - sturdy and well made with lots of play value!

 

[Magpie]

Go for it!

There's nothing sissy about boys cooking! My 9yo loves cooking. He's even taking a cooking course this year, and about a third of the kids in his class are boys. He likes working with the stove, and with knives, and all the kitchen machinery. And there's this show he watches every morning called, "Surprise! It's Edible! Incredible!" It's a game show in which kids compete to cook meals - and the contestants are overwhelmingly little boys.

I think it would be awesome to have a chef in the family someday. He'd make a lot of money and he'd get to travel. But if not, at least he'll make his wife a very happy woman someday. After all, my own husband makes breakfast for us every morning - bacon and eggs, just like his dad used to do.

I never could afford a play kitchen for my son, but we did a lot in the kitchen together. Your three year old might get a kick out of stirring things, measuring spices, using a butter knife, etc... My son loved feeling helpful at that age, and cooking "for real". The first thing he learned to make all by himself was microwave Kraft dinner - he had that one down by the time he was four.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Santa brought my son a fabulous Step 2 play kitchen the Christmas just before he turned 3. He's 4.5 now and still plays with it every day! I think it's a great gift for either gender. It encourages creative play and lots of other great stuff. The best thing we did was put it in our actual kitchen (we have a HUGE kitchen so we could do that). So, when we're making dinner in the real kitchen, Paul is usually in there with us making dinner in his kitchen.

It's not that great of a picture, but here you can see the one we got. I really reccomend the Step 2 stuff - sturdy and well made with lots of play value!

I think that kitchen is the same one we bought DD for Christmas. It's currently in 2 huge boxes in our guest room. That's my project for Christmas: cleaning out the guest room, converting it to the playroom and building the kitchen. Thanks for sharing the pic!

To the OP, I think it's a great idea for boys to have play kitchens.