Children’s kitchen sets have one thing in common…

They provide an interactive avenue for kids to exhibit high level of creative and imaginary skills through pretend play.

Children need toys that engages them, that introduces them to valuable life skills through play.

According to a study conducted by Standford University, California, mind-stimulating toys could have long-lasting positive effect on brain function

You need toys that teach your kids how to share, how to get along with other kids and how to take care of belongings.

Why choose a play kitchen for your kids?

A play kitchen set is one of the most engaging toys you can buy for your child. Children can play with it for hours at a stretch. A play kitchen encourages young children to learn important life skills.

Children’s kitchens encourage kids to share, to work as a team and to keep things organized. Play kitchens are toys that should be in every home.

But wait…

A play kitchen set is not something you just buy on the huff. Play kitchen sets are bulky. They are not your typical playroom toys. And some can come with up to 7 different components – refrigerator, freezer, Microwave, dishwasher, oven, etc.

A play kitchen unit can weigh up to 100 pounds. It takes up a lot of room space. It’s not something you shipped home and discover it’s too big for the place you planned to place it. Or that the set you ordered didn’t come with a key component you know your kid will love.

You’ re going to need a little research before you order for your kid’s play kitchen set. Don’t worry though, we’ve done that research for you. You only need few minutes to go through our list of the best children’s play kitchen set in this year.

But first things first…

Do your child really need a children’s kitchen set?

With the above-mentioned reasons, which child doesn’t need a play kitchen set? The more important question to ask is “Is my child old enough to use a kid’s kitchen set?”

Most play kitchen manufacturers put the recommended age at 2 years old. Younger kids can use this kind of toys but with adult supervision. Kitchen sets and accessories have smaller parts that can pose choking hazards to toddlers.

The Best Children’s Kitchen Sets in 2023

Play Kitchen Name	Material	Picture	Check Price
KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen	Wood
Step2 Lifestyle Custom Kitchen Playset	Plastic
Step2 Fun with Friends Kitchen	Plastic
Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Classic	MDF, Plastic, Fabric
KidKraft Uptown Natural Kitchen	Wood
KidKraft Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen	MDF, Plastic, Fabric
KidKraft Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen	MDF, Plastic, Fabric
Kidkraft Vintage Kitchen	Wood
Melissa & Doug Wooden Chef’s Pretend Play Toy Kitchen	Wood
Barbie Pizza Chef Doll and Kitchen Playset	Plastic

1. KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen:

When it comes to making your kid feels like a professional chef in the kitchen, you might want to try out the Uptown Espresso Kitchen set.

And if you want a play set with a sturdy structure that can be passed on from siblings, you don’t need to look far, the Uptown Espresso Kitchen will fulfill this need with no hassle.

This KidKraft toy kitchen is thoughtfully designed for kids from age 3 years to 6 years, but you will have a hard time keeping away younger kids from this highly interactive play kitchen set.

Unlike many other play kitchen sets the KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen is large enough to accommodate multiple children at the same time. Imagine what this will do for you when you have other families visiting.

All the accompanying units doors – dishwasher, oven, microwave, freezer and refrigerator – open and close to make the KidKraft kitchen a highly interactive toy set for kids.

Features

Enough storage space for kids to keep their toy foods and accessories. This ensures the holding room is tidy at all time.

2.Step2 Lifestyle Custom Kitchen Playset:

The Step2 Lifestyle Custom Kitchen Playset is a clear evidence that a good toy kitchen should not necessarily cost you an arm and a leg.

It has all the features of a kitchen set, and much more.

If you have a toddler who doesn’t play on his own, this pretend play set can change all that in a jiffy. It has loads of fun activities. Though it is only ideal for 2 kids, you can still make it work for an extra kid. Kids numbering 4 upward will need to take turns with it.

There are so many lovable features of this toy kitchen set. But one thing I found myself admiring over and over again is the noises and sounds that came with it.

The burner makes sounds when the frying pan is placed on it. It makes boiling hisses when a pot is put on it. There are also little lights on the burner to make it look like it’s on fire. Your kids are sure going to be in their own world, using the Step2 Lifestyle Custom Kitchen Playset.

You will come to love the colors. It won’t be out of place in your living room either, if you don’t have enough space in the real kitchen. It looks so realistic and will blend well with your existing decoration.

If you usually have other families over, note that it can only accommodate 2 kids conveniently. Anything more than that you might want to let them take turns (as if that would be easy).

One very important thing you might want to note if you’re planning to buy this is the dimension. When buying toys like this, space is very important. You might want to make sure the room you want to put this will accommodate it.

It won’t look fine if you spend money to buy this and discover you’re severely limited for space in your home. So get your tape rule ready and get your measurement right.

This toy is highly interactive. Your kid will want to empty the recycling bin, open the microwave, refrigerator, cabinet, oven and the drawer. And to top it all the Step2 Custom Kitchen comes with a toy phone.

At 28 pounds, the whole set is light, easy for an adult to move about but it will also move when kids are playing with it so you might want to position it against a wall.

Let me warn you that, with this toy, your child might take to cooking in an instant and want to practice the real thing in the family kitchen.

As with toys of this size, a major problem is assembling it. You might need to ask for help in setting it up. You will also want to get ready an electric drill. Not many people will find the idea of driving screws through hard plastic manually with a screw driver easy.

For a toy of this nature, the Step2 Lifestyle Custom Kitchen Playset is compact. You will find this especially helpful if you don’t have large play space.

What your kids will love

Boiling and frying sounds when pot and pan are placed on the front burner
‘Burning’ lights on the burner
Faucet gives out running water sound

What you will love

Straightforward instructions (with pictures) in setting it up
Its lightness makes moving it about very easy
It’s gender neutral. Both boys and girls are fascinated by this set

3. Step2 Fun with Friends Kitchen:

If all you are looking for is a highly engaging toy cooking set for your kid so you can have more free
time for yourself, look no further. The Step2 Fun with Friends Kitchen will wow your child on first sight.

This is the most complete kitchen set on this list. It ships with over a hundred pieces of accessory and has an attached dining area.

One feature some parents love about this large cooking playset is that the kitchen and the grilling units are not sold as separate units, saving you some money. A typical toy grilling set will set you back around thirty bucks.

As is usual on modern play kitchens, the burners gives boiling and frying noises, so is the microwave buttons.

You will want to keep in mind that, like other large playsets on this list, setting up can take several hours.

4. Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Classic:

A plastic play kitchen that will offer your kid endless hours of fun is Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Classic Set. This is another great product from Teamson and is available for a pocket-friendly price. It is a totally realistic kitchen playset for the kids. All the attachments are near to perfect and can be detached like in the real kitchen.

What you will love:

Easy assembling
Large amounts of storage
Near to real finish and accessories.
Light weight, with dimensions 21.5 x 11.63 x 35.5 inches.
Suitability for children up to eight years or even older

What your kid will love:

Picture frame where kids can put their favorite pics
Electronic light and sound features of stove
Dry-erase grocery list
Pet nurturing area

Cons:

No holes for the screws, though this is pretty easy to figure out.

If you are thinking of buying this toy kitchen for your kids, it is the wise decision. The Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Classic Set is one playset with the minimum amount of complaints from parents.

5. KidKraft Uptown Natural Kitchen:

Adorable. That’s the only word to describe this KidKraft toy kitchen set. Its wooden composition makes it look very natural. Storage space is another wonderful feature of this play set. There is enough space for kids to keep their kitchen wares.

This set will take a parent several hours to put together. But it makes up for that with a highly descriptive installation instruction.

At 75 pounds it is one of the heavier play kitchen set on this list, and at 43 x 17.8 x 41 it is a fairly large set. But this also makes it accommodate multiple kids at once.

When it comes to designing beautiful play kitchens for kids, KidKraft has few rivals. All their years of interactive toys research was clearly put into the design of this kitchen set. The way they give great attention to small details makes this kitchen a good buy.

The Uptown Natural Kitchen is designed to last a lifetime.

6. KidKraft Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen:

One major problem with multi-unit toy kitchen sets is room space to accommodate them in the home since many are large kits that will take up considerable space in any room.

The Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen, another multiple unit play kitchen set, is designed to overcome this lack.

Designed in an L-shape form, it is suitably placed in the corner of a room, saving parents considerable holding space.

With the Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen, KidKraft has taken pretend play gadgets to another level. It might be the nearest thing to an adult kitchen your child will ever own.

What you will love

The L-shape form that saves room space.

What your kids will love

Its highly interactive appliances including the washing machine.

7. KidKraft Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen:

When children gets in the mood to play with their kitchen they do so with a surprising gusto that belittles their age.

Before you know it, accessories like pots and pans start piling up. When you use a new utensil in your kitchen, trust me, your kid will want one for her own kitchen. And before you know it you’ll be needing extra space to store the new kitchen wares.

One thing most play kitchen don’t have in abundance is space. Many manufacturers want to build too many units – freezer, refrigerator, water dispenser, oven, washing machine – into a single play kitchen set, leaving too little room for storage space.

The solution?

Buy a kitchen set with more storage space. And they come no better than the KidKraft Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen. Space is something this kids’ kitchen toy has in abundance.

Come to think of it, the KidKraft Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen comes with a fair number of kitchen units, freezer, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and oven. But it comes with counter top space for accessories and utensils, space under the microwave, space below the laundry unit and hooks on the board to hang more accessories so as to free more extra space.

It is designed in L-shape form like the Ultimate Corner Play Kitchen for placement in the corner of a room which also frees up invariably frees up more space for you in the room. With its beautiful glossy wood finish, the Grand Gourmet Corner Kitchen will not turn to an eyesore in your home anytime soon.

What you will love

Ample space for storage of accessories. This helps keep the holding room tidy always.

What your kids will love

The new innovative metal utensils, just like the one their moms use in the kitchen

8. Kidkraft Vintage Kitchen:

If you want to gift your kid something that the little chef in them will love, Kidkraft Vintage Kitchen in Pink is the right product to gift them this holiday season. The playset comes with a kid-friendly usage and near to perfect realistic features. The kitchen playset requires no battery to work on. Its efficient and interactive features will surely make it your child’s favorite toy.

Pros

The product has a lot of pros to offer you including the ones mentioned below.
• It has opening doors like the real one along with the clickable and turning oven knobs.
• Has a cordless phone along with.
• The sinks can be removed making it very easy to clean.
• The product has these dimensions when assembled 33 x 13 x 35.70 inches.

Cons

The product does not have any such cons the only thing that bothered me was its weight and small height which makes it difficult to play with for the tall kids.

The Kidkraft Vintage Kitchen in Pink is a right one to invest your money in as it will not, in any case, fail to amaze your kid with all its amazing and outstanding features.

9. Melissa & Doug Wooden Chef’s Pretend Play Toy Kitchen

This kitchen playset is available in a unique color and also outshines all the other ones in the list because of the Extraordinary and outstanding features it has. This easy to assemble Melissa & Doug Wooden Chef’s Toy Kitchen With “Ice” Cube Dispenser is the right toy to gift your kid. It will surely make your kid happy and content with all its amazing features.

Pros

Easy to assemble, and has a unique color.
Wooden made and has a lot of space for more kids to play all together.
It has with it the ice cube dispenser and a spinning microwave plate with the movable hooks and opening doors.
All the above three years of age can enjoy playing with it.
All the other kitchen accessories and pretend food collections can go along with it very well.

Cons

The product and be somewhat heavy in weight because of its being made out of wood, other than that it does not have any other drawbacks.

The Melissa & Doug Wooden Chef’s Pretend Play Toy Kitchen With “Ice” Cube Dispenser – Charcoal for its unique features and properties and will make a perfect surprise for your little ones.

10. Barbie Pizza Chef Doll and Kitchen Playset:

With an accompanying Barbie Doll, the Barbie Pizza Chef Doll and Kitchen Playset is a pretend play toy your daughter will fall in love with easily. It ships with its own set of play food and accessories. Cook up fun with a pizza play set that comes with Barbie Doll, an oven with creative working features and all the ingredients to make, bake and serve pizza, including three different colors of dough. Besides, it take orders and payment at the register that sits on the counter under the menu.

The Barbie Pizza Chef Doll and Kitchen Playset is a typical children’s play kitchen set with making pizza. ​Play out all kinds of stories with Barbie doll dressed as a pizza chef with a pizza decal on her shirt, a classic pink and white check print on her skirt. A pair of pink shoes, a pink cap and a green apron complete the look. The oven, refrigerator and microwave opening and closing feature enhances your kids interaction with this play set and they also serve as a storage space for the accessories and play food set.

The Barbie Pizza Chef Doll and Kitchen Playset is made up of plastic, making it lightweight. It is very easy to set up, and an adult will assembly it within an hour, with no or little distraction.

Should I buy a Wooden or Plastic Kitchen Playset?

Kitchen for kids are either wooden or plastic. This doesn’t mean toy cooking sets don’t come with other materials like aluminum and steel. But wood and plastic are the common primary materials. There are hybrid playsets which may contain combination of plastic and wood. Children don’t usually know the difference and they will always take to any of the two materials. You, notwithstanding, should consider the advantages of one over the other before making your buying decision.

Plastic Playsets

A main benefit of plastic play kitchens is that they are very easy to clean. Just get yourself some soapy water and a piece of cloth for wiping down. And because plastic is lightweight in form most kitchen sets made of this material are usually light and portable. This is something you should take into account if you will be moving the play set about.

One drawback of plastic toy kitchen sets is they are not as sturdier as the wooden ones. A younger child might not be able to use a set of belonging to an older sibling. Unlike their wooden counterparts they don’t last for generations.

Wooden Playsets

If there is anything parents love about wooden play kitchens it is that they have more realistic look and feel. A wooden kitchen looks more like the real thing than a plastic kitchen, and children will actually feel like real chefs which will in turn bring out their creativity. Another plus for wooden kitchen sets is that they are durable, and can be passed from one sibling to the other.

However, unlike plastic sets wooden play sets are more difficult to clean. To maintain their realistic look and feel they must be cleaned with wood cleaner. They also splinter, and replacement of damaged parts and accessories is costlier.

Types of Play Kitchen

Play kitchens can be categorized according to size and material.

By Size:

Play kitchen are also categorized according to their size. There are mini play kitchens. These kinds of play sets have miniature units and accessories.

They are usually set up on a table and comes with boxes or containers to pack after usage. For families who don’t have space for free-standing toy kitchen sets, a portable play-set is the perfect choice. Parents who like packing away toys after each use should definitely go for this.

The other category when it comes to size is the stand-alone play kitchen. The size of these can vary, from single unit kitchen play-sets to big multiple-units kitchen set that several kids can play with at once. Some multiple-user play kitchen sets can take up considerable space in a room.

If you’re planning to buy a freestanding play set, you have to put following factors into consideration:

– Space to put it in the home
– Age of the child

By Material:

The most common play kitchens, when you group according to primary material, are wooden and plastic. Note that kitchen play-sets can contain both materials. Many play kitchens also contain parts that are made of steel or iron.

Whether you’re looking to buy wooden or plastic kitchens, make sure you understand the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Plastic play kitchens are lightweight and can easily be moved from place to another in the home. If you’re the owner of a nursery or daycare and looking to buy a toy kitchen, then go for a plastic set since it can be moved about as needed.

Plastic kitchen sets are also very easy to clean. Most of the time you will only need to wipe with a piece of cloth. And because plastic is easily sourced, they come cheaper than wooden play-sets.

On their own part, wooden play-sets are bulky toys. Though their weights depends on the kind of wood used, they’re typically weightier than plastic sets.

If you’re looking for a toy that will occupy a permanent position in the home, wooden play kitchens are the perfect choice.

Children’s toys are often subjected to a lot kicks and knocks, wooden play sets are in a better position to withstand such ‘attack’ from kids.

And when it comes to longevity, they last more. They can be passed from a sibling to the younger ones. Plus they’re more realistic looking than the plastic sets. This makes them more suited for pretend play.

The Price of a Play Kitchen

The cost of a play kitchen ranges from something around $50 to $400. Occasionally, you will find a playset above or below this range. The most expensive play kitchens are priced at over $400 but those are exceptions. Mini playsets cost much lower than $50.

The price is a major factor when it comes to quality and how engaging a playset is. But note that price alone is not enough to determine the quality. A good example is the KidKraft Uptown Espresso kitchen which is usually available on major stores for below $100 (at the time of writing this post) and is rated by many parents as one of the best play kitchens ever made.

If one of your reasons for buying a toy kitchen is to actively engage your kids, then you will want to buy a playset that comes with a good number of units and accessories. Those often come at a higher price. The advantage is, while kids are easily bored with one or two-unit kitchen toysets, they get endless hours of fun with play kitchens that have, for example, oven, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and washing machine.

Images source: Amazon.com