Play Kitchen Help

[Thriftylady]

I have tons of food, dishes and such for my play kitchen. There are in at least three tubs. My thrift store sells them in mixed baggies and I always see something I don't have lol. So now I have at least three bins of kitchen stuff. But it is all mixed in bins. How do you sort yours? Generally my rule is one bin out per child, but with kitchen stuff usually I have them share because it is smaller so takes lots to fill a bin. So do you have any order to yours? Do you just mix it all up? Do you have separate smaller bins of food/dishes etc? I would like to feel like I haven't just dumped it all in a bin lol.

[childcaremom]

I have pared down all the things I have.

Out right now we have some food items (cloth food baskets from Ikea), dishes and dish drainer and a basket of pots, pans and mixing spoons, etc. It is just out at the kitchen area for free access.

That is it and it is more played with now then when I had all the items out. Bonus, it is easier to clean

I have the same items out for our outdoor kitchen, too.

[Thriftylady]

Originally Posted by childcaremom

I have pared down all the things I have.

Out right now we have some food items (cloth food baskets from Ikea), dishes and dish drainer and a basket of pots, pans and mixing spoons, etc. It is just out at the kitchen area for free access.

That is it and it is more played with now then when I had all the items out. Bonus, it is easier to clean

I have the same items out for our outdoor kitchen, too.

Thanks I guess that is sort of what I am doing with one bin at a time, it isn't all out that way. But then I run into "I want this and it isn't in this one". I refuse to have it all out at once though.

[midaycare]

I have a small kitchen (used to have a large one) and I keep about 10-15 items out. I have 5-6 kids at a time, and only 1 or 2 play there at a time. I used to keep a huge selection of food, but it was a pita to clean up every day. So now I just mix it up now and again.

[Leigh]

I have a kitchen trash can (clean, new, of course!) that I put all the kitchen stuff in. The kids then can figure out how to put it all away when it goes in the same place. I just keep it next to the kitchen. It's big enough to hold all of my kitchen stuff, and doesn't take up a lot of floor space.

[finsup]

I wish mine would stay organized lol. I have a place for everything to go so its sorted and looks nice and...it never stays that way. Now I'm happy as long as everything gets put into a cupboard, not just piled on top of the actual kitchen. My crew just doesn't see the appeal to organized toys like I do lol.

[Thriftylady]

Originally Posted by finsup

I wish mine would stay organized lol. I have a place for everything to go so its sorted and looks nice and...it never stays that way. Now I'm happy as long as everything gets put into a cupboard, not just piled on top of the actual kitchen. My crew just doesn't see the appeal to organized toys like I do lol.

My stuff for sure won't fit in the cupboards. Maybe I have to much lol. But when I see new food, especially fruits and veggies I can't resist.

[Blackcat31]

I have a 3 drawer bin for the kitchen center.

1 bin has dishes
1 bin has food
1 bin has table linens/aprons/chef hats

Anything that doesn't fit in the bin drawers doesn't stay.

I like the cute play foods too but sometimes too much IS too much.

[Kimskiddos]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

I have a 3 drawer bin for the kitchen center.

1 bin has dishes
1 bin has food
1 bin has table linens/aprons/chef hats

Anything that doesn't fit in the bin drawers doesn't stay.

I like the cute play foods too but sometimes too much IS too much.

This is how I store mine too. I have pictures on the front of each drawer. If I notice the kiddos getting a careless about how they are putting the stuff away (not in the correct drawer), we will have a dump party. I dump it all out into a pile and they get to put it all where it goes. They generally don't love this so it helps.

[bklsmum]

I do a three drawer bin as well but I might switch to the kitchen trash can to make clean up easier.

[MarinaVanessa]

I have a cubby shelf with plastic shoe boxes. One box has food, one has plates and bowls, one has cups and teacups, one has pots and pans/utencils. The boxes are smaller so I have more boxes out but they are kept in an area near the kitchen set and that's where they must stay. I boxed up all of the other stuff I own for the kitchen set and put it in the garage so it's "out of sight, out of mind". When food gets smooshed or something cracks I toss it and replace it with one out of my big bin in the garage.

The cubby shelf actually holds more plastic boxes than that since all of my pretend play stuff is kept there (costumes, accessories, wallets, purses, etc) but it's all sorted and the kids put the stuff away after they play. Whatever doesn't get picked up and is left out of place or on the floor I pick up and it goes in bins in the garage (sorted) and they don't get to play with them. They learn pretty quickly and soon start to remind each other about cleaning up and putting tings away properly.

[stephanie]

I have one bin for food and one for dishes (labeled with pictures to help them know what goes where). I usually put out about half of the play food out at a time and then switch it out.

I am a sorter by nature and keep everything sorted BUT the food and dishes....they are just all together in one bin! Just as long as there isn't a tractor in that bin I'm happy!

[Laurel]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am a sorter by nature and keep everything sorted BUT the food and dishes....they are just all together in one bin! Just as long as there isn't a tractor in that bin I'm happy!

I did the same! As long as they weren't strewn all over the room was good enough for me. Yes, occasionally you gotta pick out a tractor.

I also kept bins in the closet to change out when they got bored with the same dishes/food all the time.

Laurel

[mommiebookworm]

I store all the playfood in the toy fridge. And the dishes in the cupboard. We have an old little tikes Victorian kitchen. Little plastic bins fit in the fridge and the cupboard.