Updated: February 18th, 2021
Are you planning to buy a toy kitchen for your kid but thinking it might not be appropriate because he is older?
Pretend cooking sets will work well for any age category. And no matter the age of your child, play kitchen can have an important role in their growing up.
It’s surprising that many parents still think they are only meant for toddlers.
These toys offer boatloads of benefits for older children too. It’s a tool to help with building their imaginations and preparing for tasks they will soon be facing as adults.
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As parents, we all want our kids to be positively engaged whether in school or at home.
Cooking playsets can help in this regard not only by engaging our kids but allowing them to develop their creativity. This is what make-believe toys do.
They also offer an avenue for parents to instruct their children.
The following kitchen toysets are the best for 5+ old kids:
Kidkraft Farm to Table Kitchen
Kids love the ‘homely’ feel of the Farm to Table playset.
This high-quality wooden kitchen will surely inspire your kids to grow their own foods with the included real-looking planted carrot and purple onion. These realistic play veggies can be ‘harvested’ and ‘chopped’ with a wooden knife on the cutting board.
The playset comes with so many features to make it your older child’s number one toy.
First is the light and sound feature – the crunching of the veggies while being chopped, the lighting up of the cooktop with boiling sounds, the running sound of a water faucet that also lights up.
Add to that an ice maker that dispenses 3 realistic ice cubes, and the 3 cut-able carrots and beets.
The Farm to Table Set comes with metal utensils – pot, pan and spatula – and metal hooks to store them. The window design allows multiple kids to play at once and can be used to create a restaurant scenario
If you’re buying this just make sure you go for one with EZ Kraft Assembly to make setting up a breeze.
Con
We can’t really think of any. There are many reasons it’s number one on this list though the Large Play Set with Light and Sound has a slightly taller counter height.
Melissa and Doug Wooden Chef Kitchen
Melissa and Doug don’t release lots of children’s kitchens. But when they do, you can expect a marvel.
The Wooden Chef is a wonder to behold. Since its release in late 2018, it’s been generating rave reviews among parents. Not only for older kids it works well for 2-3-year-olds too. That is a plus if you have different ages of kids at home.
Big toys are a mom’s nightmare when it comes to cleaning. Not the Wooden Chef. It is built in such a way to make cleaning easier.
Do you remember all those luxurious kitchens that always captivate you in those home magazines? This is your kid’s version of them.
This pressed-wood playset stands out in any room you decide to place it. The Wooden Chef is available in three child-friendly colors – charcoal, cloud, and pink.
One way the Wooden Chef thrills older kid is its interactive design. The microwave plate rotates just like the real one. The ice cube machine dispenses realistic ice cubes. And the sink has a moving faucet and handle.
Well-illustrated detailed instructions make this easier to assemble compared to other big playsets.
Cons
No light and sound feature. These features can improve the roleplay value of children’s toys.
KidKraft Uptown Kitchen
One advantage the Uptown Kitchen has over the other toy cooking sets in this list is that it is built to withstand any knocks and kicks from the little ones.
This is an important advantage if you’re buying any toy for an older child.
The Uptown cooking playset is built to last through the different generations of kids.
This is a toddler’s cookhouse that an older child can really have fun with. It is a wooden set with some pieces of plastic here and there.
The Uptown Natural Kitchen is a sturdy playset that doesn’t tip over easily, a feature you should look out for when buying cooking playsets for very active children. (Safety tip: it is advisable to always fix big and heavy toys like these to the ground or the wall).
Generally, the Uptown Set can withstand anything a 5-year-old can throw its way.
And the excellent role-play features and toy gadgets it comes with ensures that it is a viable tool for school-age kids.
One thing you can’t take away from this set is the realistic design. And if you prefer a more ‘homely’ color, check out the KidKraft Uptown Espresso Kitchen.
KidKraft Deluxe Big & Bright Kitchen
The name says it all.
Finding a perfect cookhouse for tall or older kids is not an easy task if you have ever attempted it. Most children’s kitchens you will constantly come across are made for 2-4 years olds.
Kidkraft’s bold attempt to fix that is the KidKraft Deluxe Big & Bright Toyset. And that is more than welcome development.
It is a set that your 5-year-old plus will get wholesome fun from. It comes with enough accessories and appliances to fulfill your child’s imaginative and creative needs.
The manufacturer has taken care of all the little details. A wall anchor ensures you don’t need to worry about your kid tipping this over. Adequate storage ensures the accessories don’t litter the floor. And the good number of pretend gadgets ensure your child gets maximum role-playing benefits.
Teamson Kids Little Chef Florence Classic Set
You need a big playset for a bigger kid. But many times space won’t allow you to get a big one. So you need to look for a compact playset that still comes with full features.
One of such kids’ kitchen is the Little Chef Florence Classic set. With a retro-look that will not look out of place anywhere in the house, the Florence Classic toyset still comes with enough child-friendly features.
Why is it difficult to find a perfect kitchen for older kids?
Most child’s height stand-alone cooking sets are designed for ages two to three. Older kids can sometimes use these but they are not sufficient for them to role-play effectively.
KidKraft Large Play Kitchen with Light and Sound
Looking for the perfect kitchen for a 6 to 7-year-old? And one that can still serve an 11-year-old? Don’t go far, the Kidkraft Large Set with Light and Sound feature is the way to go.
This toy has everything your child needs.
An older kids’ kitchen needs to be sturdy, tall and realistic-looking. The Large Kitchen with Light and Sound has all these are many more.
The wooden set comes in two attractive colors – a calming white and a lovely espresso. It doesn’t look out of place in any room setting. You may be a little bit jealous, why would a pretend plaything be this beautiful?
The pretend appliances are top-notch. They are so realistic-looking that there is no way your kid’s creativity and imaginative play will not get a boost.
One bane of children’s kitchens is a lack of adequate storage space to store the accessories that are needed along with the toyset. But the KidKraft Large set with light and sound took care of that issue well. It has enough storage all over even if you’re buying extra accessories. All the play appliances can be used as a storage space for your kid.
It is called Large Kitchen for a reason. Multiple children can have rewarding make-believe time in this set.
Con
It can take forever to be put together. But you can shorten that time by following the attached instruction to the letter.
Considerations when buying toy kitchens for older children
A play kitchen that will serve an older child must have certain features that will ensure the child derive maximum benefits.
Height
One feature is the height. This is very important. A cooking toy for an older kid must be a little bit taller than the common ones you will first come across while looking…
For a child to effectively play mum and dad or whatever, the playset must be in a height that will allow the boy or the girl to access the countertop easily. The countertop of a toddlers’ cookhouse is where the majority of his play will start.
Many cooking playsets failed in this area since a tall child will need to bend before he can use them.
Big-sized
A toyset for an older kid must also be big. One mistake that happens all the time with this kind of toy is, a mom will see a beautiful set online and orders for it only to find out after setting it up that it is too small. What you should take away from this is that, when ordering for play cooking sets, you need to get the actual dimensions after set-up – the height, the length and the width. This will allow you to quickly determine if it is at a good height for your child.
A toy kitchen designed for a two-year-old will not serve a seven-year-old. The 7-year-old can still use it but will not be able to access the features and role-play effectively.
But when you get a cookhouse that correlates with the child’s height then he can pretend to be mum and dad. So, size is very important when buying such toysets for older kids.
If you’re buying for a 4-year-old, then consider going for extra tall play kitchens. This is also important.
Space
Another thing you should keep in mind after taking into consideration factors like height and size is space. And this is in two ways.
First, consider the holding space, that is, wherever you are placing the kitchen. Stand-alone play cooking sets, in any room standard, are big toys. So make sure you have enough space in the room you are planning to place it. And having enough space is not enough, leave allowance of space for your child to move around the playset without any hindrance.
Kitchen toysets come with a lot of appliances and for kids to use some of these, they need enough leg space to move around the structure.
This is one consideration many parents overlook. If there’s no space around the set, kids will still play. But adequate space all around the structure allows the child to get maximum benefit.
Another advantage emanates if you usually have your little ones’ friends over at the home occasionally. A big child’s kitchen with good leg space around it is a good play resource for multiple kids.
Plus many cooking sets are made in such a way to be accessible to the child through the front, back, and sides.
Adequate accessories
One other consideration to talk about before rounding up this post is the number of pretend play appliances that come with a playset.
When buying kitchens for an older kid, a good number of pretend appliances and other features must be present.
For a 2 to 3-year-old toddler, those basic sets with three units are okay. Such age groups don’t need more than these since their knowledge about the actual appliances is limited.
A seven-year-old child already has an idea of what for example a microwave does. He already knows what all or most of the basic cooking appliances are used for. So having a replica of these in his toys is a sure way to get him engaged in the toy.
Many pretend cooking sets will even come with non-cooking home gadgets that, traditionally, are not associated with the kitchen e.g. the washing machine. These will also add to the role-playing value of the set.