As a Dad of two girls I have to admit that I’m not into Barbie dolls, baby dolls or other girlie toys. I try and give my girls as many educational toys as possible. I’ve bought them little computers, blocks with letters, books to learn their ABC’s and 123’s and many more. But one thing at first I overlooked as a really cool educational toy was plastic food.
When my oldest daughter was about two she became fascinated with plastic food–mini versions of real food cast in plastic. For Christmas we bought my daughter tons of things such as Talking Elmo, a piano and all sorts of other really cool and intricate toys. Toys I considered to be “educational”. There are a lot of really crappy toys out there so I really wanted to make sure I got good educational toys for my daughter. But out of all those expensive toys, she only played with a cheap old tub of plastic food that I bought her as a stocking stuffer. At first I was personally bummed out because all of the toys I thought she would love, she didn’t. But she did find a toy that she would educate herself with.
But then I bought into it when I saw how much she loved this cheap tub of plastic food. She would play for hours with them and it brought her so much joy, how could I not be convinced. Months passed, her new sister came and my daughter kept getting smarter and smarter with age. Then came the kitchen for her Birthday along with pots and pans and dishes and cups. Now she was cooking meals and everything. It was so fun to watch her.
And as she grew, we bought more types of plastic food, more intricate food. She began to segregate vegetables with vegetables and meat with meat…and she began to realize what junkfood is and how it’s not good for you. It was awesome. But this carried over into real food as well. Now my daughter was trying and loving brussel sprouts, cauliflower, eggplant and even quiche!
Now my daughter is almost 4 and she’s still loving her food, and her younger sister is now into it too. One of the things my 2 year old is doing with the food is learning her colors through them. Green lettuce, green broccoli, green beans and red tomatoes and brown potatoes.
Never would I have thought that a $29.99 tub of plastic food would have been such an exciting addition to our toybox that would influence my daughters’ education. Strangely enough it’s helped them with everything from counting, colors and food identification to influencing their diet. I’m a firm believer that my daughters would not eat some of the foods they eat like brussel sprouts, cabbage and more if it were not for those great plastic foods.
Nowadays it’s not such a stretch that a boy plays in a kitchen too. I love to cook and am the primary chef in our house. So I wouldn’t be hesitant to recommend plastic food for boys either. Cooking is a manly thing these days. I bet you can name at least 5 dudes you know who claim themselves to be “king of the Grill”.
So if you get a chance, buy your little ones some plastic food, especially if they are giving you problems with eating vegeatbles or need to learn their colors. They’re a cheap, educational toy that you’re kids will really enjoy.
This is the exact set I got my kids:
Step2 Play Food 101-pc. Set
They also liked these pots and pans:
Learning Resources Cooking Set
And this shopping cart has been a HUGE hit at our house:
Little Tikes Shopping Cart – Yellow/Red
They also really like these dishes:
Green Toys Dish Set
Whichever toys you decide, it’s a win win.
And if you feel brave, here are some examples of the kitchens out there to choose from as well.
We chose this one:
It’s huge but really well built and is so worth the investment because all of the joy and education ti will give them. My kids play in their kitchen for hours at a time.
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