How to choose a play kitchen

Your three-year-old flips the stove knob, slides an empty pot onto the burner, and stirs. The pot is empty. To her, dinner is nearly ready.

A play kitchen is a stove, a sink and a counter sized for a child, and it earns its spot on the floor for as long as it fits. Here is what to check before you buy: the counter height, indoor or outdoor, what ships in the box, the age grade on the small pieces, and the three kitchens we carry.

How tall should the counter be?

A short counter fits a 3-year-old today and can be outgrown within a year or two, and then the kitchen turns into a shelf for other toys. A taller counter gives your child room to grow; kids still play at one at 7 or 8.

Measure your own child before you order. Lindenkin's listings give the kitchen's overall height where the maker states it: 33.7 in for the Cream Wooden Play Kitchen Set and 32 in for the Compact Green Play Kitchen. The counter itself sits lower than that overall height. Ask for the exact counter height through the contact page, then stand your child at a counter or stack of books that height at home and watch where their elbows land.

Picture the kitchen a year from now. A child who stretches up to stir a pot today will stand taller at the same counter next summer.

Indoor kitchen or outdoor mud kitchen?

A standard play kitchen belongs on a dry floor indoors. A mud kitchen is a different piece of furniture, built for the same pretend cooking outside, with a surface meant to take dirt, water and whatever ends up in the bucket.

The Outdoor Wooden Mud Kitchen ($159.99, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon) is 39 in tall and 28.5 in wide, with a refillable water tank and a child-height faucet. It ships with two metal pots, three garden tools, two planting cups and a chalkboard, so a child can cook, plant and write outdoors. Wipe it down with a damp cloth after play, cover it or bring it inside between uses, and give it a protective finish once or twice a year if it lives outside year-round.

If the play you have in mind is happening on a patio or in the yard, start with the mud kitchen.

What ships with the kitchen, and what you add

Each of our three indoor kitchens ships as the kitchen alone: a sink plus a stove or oven, with doors and cupboards to open. Food, dishes and pots are a separate purchase, so the real cost of a play kitchen is the kitchen plus at least one set of food.

Wooden Play Dishes, 4 Sets ($49.99, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon) and the Wooden Picnic Play Food Set ($59.99, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon) work as a first set with any kitchen, so you can order food first and the kitchen later, or the other way around.

A play kitchen invites the same routine your child already watches at the real counter: filling a pot, stirring, plating a meal, washing up after. Hand over a sponge and a small towel with the dishes, and hang the towel on a hook your child can reach, and the loop is complete: cook, plate, serve, wash, put away.

Check the age grade before you buy

All three of our indoor kitchens, and the mud kitchen, are graded 3 years and up, and each one carries a small-parts warning. That grade sets the floor: keep any of them away from a child younger than 3.

If your child is younger than 3, hand over a real pot and a wooden spoon at your own counter and let them stir beside you, or look at the Kitchen Helper Tower with Step Stool ($149.99, ages 2 and up, coming soon), which brings a toddler up to counter height at your side. Stay beside your child the whole time they're on it, and set it on a level floor.

A small-parts warning means a piece is small enough to block a child's airway if swallowed, so check every loose piece before you hand a kitchen to a child right at the 3-year cutoff.

The three kitchens we carry

All three are listed as coming soon while sourcing checks are open; see the safety and compliance page for what that check involves.

• Wooden Play Kitchen with Open Shelves ($129.99 in blue, $149.99 in white, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon). Open shelving on one side, so your child can see and reach what's on the shelf without asking, and a stove and oven front on the other. The maker doesn't list dimensions for this one, so measure a similar-height counter at home first.
• Cream Wooden Play Kitchen Set ($139.99, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon). 33.7 x 23.2 x 16.5 in, with a microwave, sink, stove and ice maker in one run, plus a checkered curtain accessory. Also sold in green.
• Compact Green Play Kitchen ($95.99, ages 3 and up, small parts, coming soon). 32 x 22.8 x 11.7 in, the smallest footprint of the three, sized for a room or corner where a full-size kitchen won't fit.

All three need adult assembly. Set aside an evening with a screwdriver before the first play session, and wipe the finished kitchen clean with a dry cloth as needed. Once a kitchen opens for order, it ships within 3 business days and arrives 3 to 5 business days after that.

What to start with

From your own home: real pots and wooden spoons, empty spice jars, a muffin tin, and a step stool at your own counter while your child is still too young for a play kitchen.

From Lindenkin: each kitchen below is coming soon and graded 3 years and up, with small parts.

• Smallest room, smallest budget: the Compact Green Play Kitchen ($95.99) plus Wooden Play Dishes ($49.99), about $146.
• Full-size, more play at once: the Cream Wooden Play Kitchen Set ($139.99) plus dishes ($49.99) and the Wooden Picnic Play Food Set ($59.99), about $250.
• Outdoors: the Outdoor Wooden Mud Kitchen ($159.99) on its own; it ships with its own pots and tools.

Browse the full pretend play collection, or check the age guide if you're still deciding whether this is the right season for a kitchen.

Questions parents ask

My child just turned 2. Should I buy a play kitchen now?

Wait on our three kitchens; each is graded 3 and up and carries a small-parts warning. For now, hand over a real pot and spoon at your own counter, or use the Kitchen Helper Tower, graded 2 and up, to bring your child up to counter height beside you. Either one gets your child cooking beside you today, and the play kitchen can wait until the next birthday.

What's the difference between a play kitchen and a mud kitchen?

A play kitchen has a sink and a stove or oven, built for a dry floor indoors. A mud kitchen has a faucet and a refillable water tank, built to take dirt and water outside. Pick indoor or outdoor based on where your child will actually be playing.

Do I need to buy dishes and food separately?

Yes, for the three indoor kitchens: each ships as the kitchen alone, and food and dishes are a separate purchase. The mud kitchen comes with two metal pots, three garden tools, two planting cups and a chalkboard.

Why do the listings say "coming soon"?

Each kitchen is open to browse now and will open to order once we have the certificate and test report it needs before it goes on sale. Check the safety and compliance page for what that covers.

Which of the three fits a small bedroom?

The Compact Green Play Kitchen has the smallest footprint at 32 x 22.8 x 11.7 in, so it fits a room or a corner where a full-size kitchen won't. Measure the spot you have in mind against those dimensions before you decide.