This past week I focused on reorganizing my daughter’s playroom. My goal was not only to organize and clean out, but also to make the space more functional. A well organized play space encourages a child to use their imagination when playing and pretend or imaginative play is a fundamental part of learning for a toddler. With everything going on in the world, and waiting for her to begin school much longer than I ever anticipated, this is a significant change I can make at home to promote her development.
One of her biggest pieces in her playroom is her little kitchen that she received for Christmas last year. Although she has always loved it, she’s never really played with it extensively. I used to keep everything kitchen/food related in one big bin next to the kitchen, which quite honestly was a disaster of kitchen items all mixed in together. It was impossible to find matching pieces, so most of the time she would empty out the bin, get frustrated along the way and just leave the big mess on the floor and move onto something else. Almost a year later I decided it was time to make it a functional space where everything has a place, much like our real kitchen at home.
All the food items went into the fridge, one cabinet was used for all the plates and utensils, the top shelf was for the small appliances, etc. Organizing the kitchen was an instant game changer! As soon as I finished putting everything in its place she started playing with her kitchen like never before. She got her oven mitts and put her cookies on the baking sheet and into the oven, then got cooking utensils and food to cook me a meal. She’s never truly used her imagination to play in the kitchen for an extensive period of time before. Now that it’s organized, she plays so much longer and doesn’t make the mess she used to. A double win for us.
Getting the kitchen to this point took some thinking and definitely lots of cleaning out. When I emptied her kitchen bin I realized she had multiples of so many items. No kid needs 20 cooking utensils, so I kept 1 complete set and donated the rest. Since she’s had the kitchen for nearly a year, she’s received lots of kitchen related items as gifts, so they’ve accumulated. Many kitchen related sets bring different types of items, such as food items plus a couple cooking utensils, an apron and a plate, etc. So ultimately she had tons of mismatched items thrown in 1 big bin, making it impossible to find what she needed for a certain activity.
Getting things properly organized usually means having to buy some bins or things to organize with. In this case, I purchased 2 bins, 2 baking sheet and hooks to properly organize in those small spaces, but it was so well worth it. I’m sharing everything I bought to organize and all of the sets we kept to completely fill her little kitchen with everything she needs to pretend play as she should be.
If you have a little boy, don’t shy away from a pretend play kitchen. Although it is traditionally a girl toy, lately I’ve seen so many boys getting little kitchens as well. Way to go mamas because there is nothing better than a man that likes the kitchen! It’s actually one of my favorite qualities my husband has. I’m going to share everything we have, most of which is pink because I love a color coordinated playroom, but I’m also including some great blue accessories and neutral ones perfect for little boys or a household with both genders.
Let’s start with the main pieces that you’ll need. I went with the KidKraft vintage kitchen because I love the design of it. It comes in two color options, the white kitchen and the pink kitchen. We also started off with a basic set of pots and pans that’ll work for any pretend play kitchen. Most pretend play kitchens are very similar in size, so all of the items we have should work for any of them, but measure your space for the bins and trays to be sure. You can click on any of the photos below and it’ll take you directly to Amazon to purchase that specific product.
The fridge of this specific kitchen is perfect for 8×8 bins. Since the fridge has 2 shelfs, I ordered 2 clear 8×8 storage bins and separated the items by type. I dedicated one bin to all the fruits and veggies and the other one to her grilling set and a few other miscellaneous food items she had leftover. One of her favorite toys is her fruits and veggies cutting set. This set even brings a pizza and all of the items are held together with velcro, so she puts each piece on a cutting board and uses the knife included to cut them in half. She loves this set so much that we have 1 set in the kitchen and another set outside in little baskets in her playhouse. They’re plastic so they’re super durable and don’t get damaged outside. Most of the other items in her fridge are from her BBQ set that includes hamburgers, hot dogs, ketchup, mustard, etc. There’s also another bigger red grilling set that seems perfect if you’re just starting out, because it has a lot of the essentials without having to buy several different things. This set includes the pots, pans, cooking utensils, a grill and even some food items. We don’t personally have this set, but it seems great for the money.
Our specific kitchen has a tiny oven with a shelf splitting it into 2 sections. I decided to add 2 stainless steel baking sheets, one for her cookies and another for her pizza (that came in the fruits and veggies set). These baking sheets are a perfect fit. My daughter received a set of Christmas cookies during Christmas time, so I am sharing her exact set in case you want those. I also included a similar set of cookies that are not Christmas related.
Then the top of the kitchen we use to display all of her cooking utensils and small appliances. I loved the mini pink and rose gold cooking utensils when I saw them. They’re not pretend play, they’re real silicone cooking utensils that are even dishwasher safe, but they are the mini size, which is perfect for a little kitchen. I just had to buy them. She can even use them to help me cook when she gets a little older. There is also a set of mini black and white cooking utensils, just like ours but in black and white. I store her cooking utensils in a holder that came with another set she also had, but I decided to only keep the pink utensils for simplification purposes. However, it’s a really cute set that includes stainless and wood utensils in a holder. It’s another great option that’s even cheaper and brings the storage for it.
On the top of the kitchen we also have all of her small appliances. She has a pink mixer, a pink toaster and a blue coffee maker. When searching for other options to share here, I came across a pink coffee maker and a pink blender… I’m not going to lie, I’m really tempting to buy them so everything matches our color scheme. Along with our blue coffee maker there’s also a blue mixer (that we also have and kept in a cabinet at the bottom of the kitchen) and I found a silver mixer and a silver toaster that look oh so real.
Finally in the little cabinet under the sink, I stored all of her plates and utensils. They’re perfectly stacked up in this little cabinet space. I decided to order her a complete set so that she could set her little table of 4 with all the proper pieces per setting. We had tons of mismatched pieces that came with different sets, but never more than 2 of anything that coordinated, so I decided to donate all of those and keep 1 complete set. I purchased the set of dinnerware in pastel colors, but there’s another adorable set of dinnerware in primary colors.
There’s 2 more little spaces to utilize in the kitchen, a cabinet under the fridge and a small open space under the sink. They basically became our overflow storage. Under the fridge we have another mixer and blender she had, that she loves playing with and then the little open storage spot has the extra pots and pans, as well as the knives for her food cutting sets.
We filled up all of the cabinet space, but on one side of the kitchen a clean empty wall that I didn’t want to waste. I decided to put command hooks there for her apron and oven mitts. It’s the perfect spot for those items, leaving them accessible without taking up useful space in the kitchen cabinets or having to be folded. We have the unicorn apron and the pink polka dot oven mitts, but I came across the cutest pink gingham chef set that brings everything your little chef needs. I also came across 2 adorable boys set as well, the Junior Chef apron & hat and the Lil BBQ Dude 3-piece set. To hang up the apron and mitts, I just used 2 command hooks. Such a simple detail, but it’s so practical and completes her fully stocked kitchen.
I am so excited for her to enjoy her new organized kitchen. I really wish I had done it a long time ago. Just in the last few days, I’ve noticed such a significant change in the way she plays with her kitchen. She gravitates to it now. It’s usually the first thing she goes to play with when she enters the playroom and she stays there for quite some time. The best part is that she doesn’t make a huge mess, even after playing for an extensive period of time. She’s also been great about picking up because everything has a place and she knows it. Organize your munchkins play kitchen now, trust me, you won’t regret it! You’ll just wish you had done it sooner.
No Comments