Our Bargain Buy: Little Tikes Inside/Outside Cook 'n Grill Play Kitchen

One of our presents to Little One this Christmas was his play kitchen; the Inside/Outside Cook 'n Grill Kitchen from Little Tikes. We knew for a few months that we wanted to get him a play kitchen as his main present as he has always makes a beeline for any play kitchen when we are at soft play. He just seems to get so much enjoyment from playing with them. Although aimed at children aged 3+, we decided that he was more than ready to be able to play with it and thought we'd see how he got on with it.

We had had our minds set on getting him a little wooden play kitchen for a long time but often the higher prices and seeming lack of availability around Christmas put us off. The nicest one we found was a wooden one from Asda, priced at just £40 but there never seemed to be any available. We also looked at the Great Little Trading Company, and although gorgeous, their kitchens were just out of our price range.

Which is when we turned to eBay. I'm quite an experienced eBayer, and love nothing more than having a good old search to bag a real bargain. There were some really tatty, un-loved play kitchens on there, and the wooden ones especially showed their age. For £56.00 we won this lovely Little Tikes kitchen, which was a year old and hardly used. The lady we bought it off also very kindly included a whole bin bag full of play food, pans and lots more accessories. It just needed a good clean and it looked as good as new. New, this kitchen retails at around £140, so I think we got a pretty good deal, plus we have given a wonderful toy a new home where it will be loved and used a great deal.  

The kitchen itself features two sides- an inside kitchen complete with dishwasher, oven, sink, hob, microwave, a fridge and cupboards. There's a cute window which looks to the outside part, which features a BBQ and a picnic bench with sun canopy over the top. I probably wouldn't recommend this kitchen if you're limited for space, as it is quite big (H 114cm, W 94cm, D 67cm).

 I was worried that at only 17 months, he might not use it and that we'd be stuck with a fairly large plastic kitchen in our sitting room. I needn't have worried at all. He goes to play with it every day and gets hours of enjoyment from 'cooking' meals for me with his little pans, pouring me cups of tea and putting bread in his little toaster. We are having endless amounts of fun role playing together and one of our favourite games is watching a cooking programme and pretending to make what the chef is making on TV. 

Of course, you don't need to have a play kitchen to be able to do food and cooking role play, but we find it makes it all the more fun. The skills and language Little One is developing from the role play aspect is quite remarkable, and sorting plastic foods into their different colours is another game we have started to play. We are all really enjoying this kitchen, and yes, it takes up a whole corner in our sitting room and perhaps doesn't fit in with our decor, but we don't mind as he's having so much fun.

NB: We purchased this play kitchen ourselves and I was not paid or sponsored to write this post, we just really like the kitchen! As always, all opinions expressed and photos are my own.