Play kitchens: the ten best

The rise of the chef has prompted the rise of the kid kitchen

Once upon a time, a play kitchen was just for girls. Now, that’s all changed, with the emergence of the big, butch, hard-swearing male TV chef, whose every sentence contains as many asterisks as their restaurants have Michelin stars.

And the result has been a complete revolution in the pretend-cookery toy world. It’s no longer all about bright pink, plastic teasets and serving mini-sandwiches to dollies. It’s about upmarket unisex cooking ranges, banging out dishes to demanding customers, and shouting “Yes, chef!” each time your sibling calls out a customer’s order.

All of a sudden, cookery is not just something you suggest to girls as a hobby, but something you seriously propose to both sexes as a career. Invest in one of these kitchen set-ups below, and you don’t just have to be prepping a daughter to become a Delia or Nigella, you could be grooming a son to become a Gordon or a Jamie!

What’s more, it starts early. Given that these kitchens don’t use actual gas, boiling water or sharp knives, you can get your kids play-cooking from the age of three.

For starters

Beginner kitchens these days have features well beyond mere baking. The Chad Valley Foldaway Kitchen (£25) not only folds back down into a  transportable carry case, it folds up into a smart, black-and-red unit, with sink, hob, hot plate and oven. It says things like ‘Let’s Get Cooking’. (Which can get irritating. As can the fact that the oven door folds downwards on to the floor, and young chefs step on it.)

The same firm also makes an Electronic Kitchen (£35), which recognises what’s on the hob and makes the appropriate sizzling, bubbling or kettle-whistling sounds. There’s an oven timer and artificial glowing hob for added effect.

If you prefer your children to use their imaginations rather than having it all laid out on a plate, so to speak, you might prefer the Smoby Studio Kitchen (£30). It’s less hi-tech, but has a fridge, a coffee-maker and useful shelves.

Or, failing that, the stylishly blue, white and red-spotted Sizzlin’ Kitchen (Early Learning Centre, £70). All four come with 20-40 utensils and pretend edibles, and you can stock up on fruit and veg with a 100-piece play food set from Argos (£10), which does a basic cooker plus 50 utensils (Complete Kitchen Set, £25).

For girls

No prizes for guessing the colour scheme of My First Pink Kitchen (Argos, £22), very much a kneeling-height cooker, again with sound effects included (turn the dials for sizzling and bubbling sounds). Comes with frying pan, condiments and pop-up toaster.

The same salmon hues distinguish the Le Toy Van Honey Bake Kitchen Set (John Lewis, £50), a rather classy, solid oven-and-hob, with built-in clock, add-on saucepan, frying pan and plastic bacon and egg.

For effect

Just as grown-ups enjoy extracting admiring oohs and aahs when they show off their fitted kitchens, so youngsters can experience the same sensation when they invite their schoolfriends round to play with their Deluxe Bosch Kitchen (Early Learning Centre, £100). Forget kiddy-style primary colours, this comes in a sleek, black-and-white design that incorporates dishwasher, sink, fridge, a 48-piece crockery and utensil set, and battery-operated espresso machine. It’s also two-sided, so more than one chef can be cooking at any one time.

For £70 (Gourmet Deluxe), you get the same minus the fridge, and for £55 the same minus cooking sounds, fridge and 20 or so utensils.

For the grown-ups

Even adults will be envious of the Country Kitchen (Early Learning Centre, £140), a pale green play kitchen that’s as close as you can get to an Aga, and is made of solid wood. All right, so you can’t leave it outdoors (the rain will cause kitchen-rot), but this is a lovely piece of carpentry to look at (sink, shelves, hob, dresser-style chunkiness). It has lots of handy built-in shelves, along with pots and pans that are also made of wood and make a reassuringly solid thud when they hit the floor.

Just as pretty is the all-wood Hamleys Kitchen (£80), combining the sturdiness of a wardrobe with the exotic colours of a Russian icon. So are these the most expensive play kitchens you can possibly buy?

No, that honour goes (for the moment, anyway) to My Dream Kitchen (Early Learning Centre, £150), a stylish red, black and white creation the size of a small submarine. It’s equipped with everything from microwave to chopping board, from two-ring hob to chalkboard on which to write today’s specials. In the words of the Masterchef presenters, cooking doesn’t get any better than this.

Hot websites for play kitchens

Argos, Early Learning Centre, Hamleys, John Lewis