This guest review of the Playskool Sesame Street Come ‘N Play Cookie Monster Kitchen Café ($79.99) is written by Christine from the popular blog Life on Manitoulin. You can read more about her in a previous guest review or connect with her on Twitter.
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Little One is obsessed with cooking. It’s a good thing, because so is Mommy. She loves helping me in the kitchen and I love that she enjoys learning by doing. This said, sometimes things would go so much faster if I could cook on my own and sometimes she needs to just observe from a distance if I’m chopping things with the kitchen knife or cooking something on the stove. Safety first!
A friend suggested that I put a toy kitchen IN my kitchen so Little One can cook WITH me. Why didn’t I ever think of that? Oh, right. I have this “No toys in the kitchen” quirk and insist on Little One keeping all her toys contained in her toy room.
I know. I’m starting to come to the realization that this may just be unrealistic. I just hate feeling like my house looks like it vomited all over itself or that it imploded.
With all of Little One’s “stuff” all over the house, it’s so hard for me to keep up! She’s learning how to clean up after herself. We do have clean up time. (It’s still really annoying, though.)
Long story short, having a toy kitchen IN my kitchen does seem like a good idea. It would keep her busy while I’m busy with the food prep with which she can’t help me. You know, the dicing, chopping and slicing.
When we were asked to test out the Playskool Sesame Street Come ‘N Play Cookie Monster Kitchen Café, I knew Little One would love it. I mean, who doesn’t love Sesame Street?!
THE GOOD
Little One has been cooking up a storm and creating the most interesting concoctions since she got this kitchen. I was actually surprised; she can spend HOURS pretend cooking. The reason I was surprised is that my four year old isn’t the type of kid who sits still or plays with one single thing for a long period of time. Usually. She’s a mover! Super-busy and super-active. Seeing her playing and taking food orders and serving up the orders is really cute.
The Come ‘N Play Cookie Monster Kitchen Café comes disassembled in a compact (sort of little) box. The parts are large and not too challenging to put together. Read: If I’m able to assemble this on my own without calling Hubby for assistance, then anyone can assemble this kitchen! The BEST part about this toy for Mom is that there are no tools required for assembly; everything snaps together easily.
The kitchen itself is sturdy. With many toy kitchens, I worry about the sturdiness just because I know how rough and tough kids can be with their toys. No flimsy parts with this one. I was really impressed with that.
Little One actually said, “Here, Mom! I’m cooking up batches of fun!” She loves the talking Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The toy food is the perfect size for little hands. Not too big, not too small. What was exciting for my daughter was the fact that the parts opened and closed, and you can slide the window open and shut. The stove burner also has sizzling sound effects and the knobs make clicking sounds. With the singing along with Cookie Monster and the over 70 phrases, Little One was amused by her talking kitchen. She even has conversations with it. It’s pretty cute.
I love that the Playskool Cookie Monster Kitchen Café also teaches kids about healthy food items! I was impressed to see salmon, quinoa, okra, udon and zucchini on the menu. Finally! Something different from your standard sandwich or pizza. Little One LOVES that because those are foods she loves eating.
THE GAFFE
Though Little One loves the opening, closing, sliding, talking and pretend play, I really wish the kitchen were just a little bit bigger. Though I realize this toy is recommended for children 18 months to 4 years of age, and is “the perfect size” for tiny tots, for the sake of longevity, something just a wee bit bigger would be ideal. The “cooking surface” is just a little too small. Little One was pretending to slice, dice, chop, roll, pat, cook, and bake, but kept running out of room. Yes – even with imaginary food.
If there were a few more food items, that would be great, too. The Playskool Sesame Street Come ‘N Play Cookie Monster Kitchen Café comes with six pieces of play food. I suppose if you want to keep things simple and minimal (and not have too many pieces to lose), that’s actually a good thing. Little One was just looking for a little more variety in the way of toy food that came with the set.
THE GEARS
4.5/5
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