Those play kitchens & houses for kids

[happybratpack]

I know this is going to make me sound completely kid-clueless.

I was looking at the play kitchens at Toys R Us but I was wondering how long your kids had interest in theirs? What about the Little Tikes houses for outside?

Thanks, I just don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on things that won't be worth it.

 

[can'twait]

We kept ours in the house - luckily DD had room for it! She loved it at first but really didn't spend a lot of time in it after a while. We eventually donated it to the play ground at her pre-school. See if you can score one at a yard sale in the spring - it will be much less expensive.

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

How long do kids stay interested? I'd say it totally depends on the kid, mostly. I found secondhand both a kitchen and an outdoor house for my daughter last summer (she was 2 1/2), the kitchen is inside, the house in the back yard. She loved the house during the summer and fall (it's too cold and rainy now) and continues to play intermittently with the kitchen. My son (now 18 mos) loves the kitchen. He opens and closes doors and puts items inside the compartments and takes them out. I got lucky and got the outdoor house in fabulous condition for $25 (at a yard sale - it was an icky yard sale day - little bit of rain, etc. and I was in the right place at the right time), and paid a little more for the kitchen,which was in perfect condition with a whole bunch of utensils. I expect they will both keep playing with both for a couple of years. As long as one is interested, the other is going to be!

 

[SC Minnie]

DD was interested in the outside house thing for about 2 days. When neighbor kids would come over they would sometimes play on it but rarely. I sold it to a friend. I bought a Little Tykes kitchen at a yard sale for $20-- looked like it had never been played with. She played with this longer-- a couple of years. I ended up selling it for the same amount I paid. It still looked new-- not a mark on it.

 

[Terri C]

Hello Of course every child is different but we bought a fisher price kitchen for our oldest DD when she was 3. She played with it for about 3 years. And her little sister got alot of use out of it as well We definately got our moneys worth out of it We bought the little tikes house that goes outside when DDs were 8 and 5. They didn't play with it as much as I thought they would. If I had to do it all over I probably wouldn't have bought that.
Oh well...live and learn


Terri

 

[aprincessmom]

DD played with hers from when she got it -- age 2 -- to when we finally gave it away -- age 7. She loved that kitchen.

Little Tykes house -- the neighbor had one. None of the kids every used it. It was too small for more than 2 at a time and it is suffocating in the summer.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

DD played with her kitchen on and off...but not like me when I was a kid..I had red circles drawn on cardboard boxes and played FOREVER!
I also bought her the Step 2 slide...again,..on and off interest..so, maybe find something at a discount and if she really likes it, go for a better one

 

[Papa Deuce]

We bought one at a yard sale for $25. I am glad we went this way. They had it all last summer and used it for maybe 10 hours.

 

[Sandy V.]

Like others have said, it depends on the kid. Our DD got a Little Tykes kitchen for Christmas at age 2, and she and her younger brother played with that for YEARS.

I think that the secondhand route is the smartest way to go if you can find one, since it's a bit of gamble to see if they're going to play with it a lot or not.

 

[becka]

We got DS a very nice play kitchen for his 3rd birthday because at the time he had this little tiny play kitchen that he used a lot. He has not played with it as much as I would have hoped. However, since DD has been able to crawl she has been playing with it. She loves having cabinets and drawers she can open and she never knows quite what she will find because DS stores some interesting stuff in there sometimes. I think maybe she will end up playing with it more than he will.

 

[PrincessPatty]

I will tell you a funny story about a child wanting a play house sooooooooo bad!

When I was younger and my parents would take me into ANY store that had one, I would go in and REFUSE to leave!! I had such a fun time in those little houses. My parents would plead and plead to get me out, threaten to leave me, walk away...everything!



I never did get one of those houses.....well now Im making them pay for it, Im 24 years old and still living in THEIR house, with no plans to leave in the close future....hahaha got them back good huh?
(we still joke around about this today!)

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Both of my DDs loved their kitchen and played with it for YEARS. Youngest DD is 7 and she still plays with it sometimes. We have a house that we keep inside on our screen porch and that has lost interest but was a hit for about a year or so. The house I plan to sell at an upcoming kid's consignment sale. Hoping to make some $$ for Disney on that one!

 

[daisyduck123]

My DD11 loved her Little Tikes kitchen...played with it for several years.

We had one of those outdoor Little Tikes houses...the kids played with it less than a dozen times....they were always too busy on the swingset!

 

[mtemm]

my eldest is 4, the youngest are 21 months, and they all LOVE the playhouse we have out back and the kitchen we have in the house. I would make sure to get ones that aren't too small...some of those play kitchens are teeny and meant just for young ones.

 

[Alice's Mom]

My daughter has a very nicely sized Little Tykes Kitchen she received for her 2nd birthday. She just recently turned 5 and still plays with it. She has pots and pans, bakeware, tools and pretend food. She has gotten a lot of enjoyment out of her kitchen.

She just made me "cupcakes" last week

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Santa brought our DD8 a nice Amish hand-made wooden kitchen set (because as someone already mentioned - most other sets are tiny!) when she was 3 - she will still occasionally play with it when she has friends over. We plan to put it away when she is done with it and keep it to pass down to her children.

 

[Feralpeg]

DD had the Little Tykes kitchen, the house and the big castle with the slide. I could count on both hands the number of times she played with each. But, DD never played with dolls or anything of that sort. She loved her stuffed animals, books, anything to do with drawing.

 

[EthansMom]

Our Little Tykes toddler slide has gotten a decent amount of use.

I found a kitchen in good shape for free on the side of the road (with a sign that said "Free"). I'd been thinking about spending upwards of $60 on one, so free sounded like a good price. I spent $15 on play food. DS4 and DD1 played with it for about 2 days and then lost interest -- mostly, they were just throwing the food items on the floor. The kitchen is now in the basement, getting no use at all -- might need to put it on the side of the road with a "Free" sign to get rid of it. You don't happen to live in Connecticut do you?

In our house, books, blocks, the wooden train set, baby dolls, and Little People are the toys of choice. Speaking of Little People, we have about twice as many as any one house needs. If I could get the kids to part with some, you could have them too.

 

[princess pooh]

There is a play kitchen in all the kindergarten classes where I work and they are very popular. I found a Fisher Price vanity at a used toy store and the girls play with that a lot too.