Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Purchased The Best Little Kitchen Ever!
Abigail 08:23 PM 03-27-2011
I'm always on the look out for certain items at rummages, thrift shops, or online. Today I purchased the perfect play kitchen! It's the retired Little Tikes Victorian Country Kitchen. It even came with the coffee mug and the telephone and it really does look brand new! The kitchen is much bigger than I remember, but that's great because I plan to use it as a divider for the dramatic play area. Super excited! 
Rachel 10:18 PM 03-27-2011
So cute, love it!
morgan24 02:23 AM 03-28-2011
I have the same kitchen and have had it since 1997. It has held up really well. The kids still play with it everyday.
jessrlee 03:10 AM 03-28-2011
Wow! It looks great!
nannyde 03:16 AM 03-28-2011
I have this one in my upstairs playroom and the kids love it. I bought mine in 1995 and it looks brand new.
There are a few flaws in the design.
The big plug tabs on the backside can come undone. Check them. They are small enough to choke.
The shelving in the cabinets is U shaped and angle downward so it can't hold any containers. You can have a lot of dumping right when they get to it. Don't invest too much time putting things away in any order. The kids really like just swooshing the shelves and knocking them out. You will also see that they will make a run for it to be the first one there so they can dump.
The yellow grates on the left side of it can be used for monkey bars. Teach them not to hang off of them.
The table goes in and out. It has a grooved area there where you have to fit it in. The kids will pop that out of place a lot just to move the table up and down.
They can get their fingers caught in the doors. One kid will have their hands in it and the other kid will try to shut the door while their fingers are in it. The kids under eighteen months will have one hand in and shut it on themselves. It's a pretty good pinch if they get it caught so watch for that.
You are very lucky to get one. They quit making them years ago. I've seen them sold on Ebay for three to four hundred dollars plus shipping. They are an old school toy that was built in the old ways Little Tykes used to make things. They are designed to last forever.
Oh and you can get the icecubes on ebay that go thru the watermaker. The kids love that but it is a fight toy so maybe not worth it.
I would put it up against a wall and tie it down. It is VERY easy to pull over and is really heavy. I use the wall clips from safety first and run the long plastic pull thru the center grids above the sink.
If you use it as a section to divide areas instead of mounting it into the wall you will most likely have someone push or pull it over on themselves.
There are a few flaws in the design.
The big plug tabs on the backside can come undone. Check them. They are small enough to choke.
The shelving in the cabinets is U shaped and angle downward so it can't hold any containers. You can have a lot of dumping right when they get to it. Don't invest too much time putting things away in any order. The kids really like just swooshing the shelves and knocking them out. You will also see that they will make a run for it to be the first one there so they can dump.
The yellow grates on the left side of it can be used for monkey bars. Teach them not to hang off of them.
The table goes in and out. It has a grooved area there where you have to fit it in. The kids will pop that out of place a lot just to move the table up and down.
They can get their fingers caught in the doors. One kid will have their hands in it and the other kid will try to shut the door while their fingers are in it. The kids under eighteen months will have one hand in and shut it on themselves. It's a pretty good pinch if they get it caught so watch for that.
You are very lucky to get one. They quit making them years ago. I've seen them sold on Ebay for three to four hundred dollars plus shipping. They are an old school toy that was built in the old ways Little Tykes used to make things. They are designed to last forever.
Oh and you can get the icecubes on ebay that go thru the watermaker. The kids love that but it is a fight toy so maybe not worth it.
I would put it up against a wall and tie it down. It is VERY easy to pull over and is really heavy. I use the wall clips from safety first and run the long plastic pull thru the center grids above the sink.
If you use it as a section to divide areas instead of mounting it into the wall you will most likely have someone push or pull it over on themselves.
Abigail 05:50 AM 03-28-2011
Right now one is on ebay for $65 (plus s/h or it's a local pickup). I was SO EXCITED to see this on CL and wrote within the hour of it being up and picked up the same day. I'm not sure if I'm going to buy the ice cubes because I don't know if they're a choking hazard. I know this is for 2-7 year olds and that perfect my age under-school-age group. I'm most likely to use it to separate the dramatic play area from another area. I can't stand it when I see how most people push everything against the walls and have huge open room space. If I need to have it secure, then I can always put a shelf behind it to secure it to.
nannyde 06:11 AM 03-28-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
I can't stand it when I see how most people push everything against the walls and have huge open room space. If I need to have it secure, then I can always put a shelf behind it to secure it to.
You will need to secure it but it may take something happening before you see the value in it.I can't stand it when I see how most people push everything against the walls and have huge open room space. If I need to have it secure, then I can always put a shelf behind it to secure it to.
As far as having everything against the wall... remember that most likely every kid that comes to you will have their whole life with that configuration. Their living room is like that... their bedroom... their play room at home... grandmas living room... aunties living room... the church nursery...
This isn't a foreign idea to little children. Providers choose it because it's the easiest to supervise and clean. Plain and simple.
Lianne 07:05 AM 03-28-2011
Originally Posted by Abigail:
I can't stand it when I see how most people push everything against the walls and have huge open room space. If I need to have it secure, then I can always put a shelf behind it to secure it to.
I have everything up against the walls. My kids (and I) prefer a large open space to get on the floor and play in. I've tried dividing the space up using shelves and pieces of furniture but it looks very chopped up and each area is cramped. Different styles work for different rooms/people.I can't stand it when I see how most people push everything against the walls and have huge open room space. If I need to have it secure, then I can always put a shelf behind it to secure it to.
SilverSabre25 07:19 AM 03-28-2011
Originally Posted by Lianne:
I have everything up against the walls. My kids (and I) prefer a large open space to get on the floor and play in. I've tried dividing the space up using shelves and pieces of furniture but it looks very chopped up and each area is cramped. Different styles work for different rooms/people.
I too tried that for awhile. It worked, to an extent, but I found that it exacerbated the dumping problems and the kids didn't really play much...they just made messes. The open arrangement works better for my group.I have everything up against the walls. My kids (and I) prefer a large open space to get on the floor and play in. I've tried dividing the space up using shelves and pieces of furniture but it looks very chopped up and each area is cramped. Different styles work for different rooms/people.
Live and Learn 07:38 AM 03-28-2011
I have this same kitchen in white, pink and purple. I got it in 2000. Love it! 
WImom 09:34 AM 03-28-2011
We have that one too. I watched CL for months waiting for someone to post it because I had to have that one. Have fun with it!!
squareone 09:59 AM 03-28-2011
We have this one too! I found mine on CL for $35! When we got it a year ago it looked brand new. Since then, the kids have cracked the "glass" on the oven. I just removed the rest of the plastic so that no fingers get pinched. Otherwise, it's in great shape and is holding up well.
Agree that the plug tabs on the back come out and are a choke hazard. Also, they ARE easy to pull over. I had to secure mine because it's been pulled over twice already. And now I have an 18mo dcg who like to climb up and sit in the sink when I'm not looking. Ugh!
Agree that the plug tabs on the back come out and are a choke hazard. Also, they ARE easy to pull over. I had to secure mine because it's been pulled over twice already. And now I have an 18mo dcg who like to climb up and sit in the sink when I'm not looking. Ugh!
Missani 12:20 PM 03-28-2011
I do like that kitchen. The toddler room that I worked in had it, so it brings back great memories.
Abigail 12:58 PM 03-28-2011
I'm still in love with it, lol. I'll have a whole level dedicated to daycare space (since we're moving and do not need all the space for personal space for the time being) so my setup is more like a preschool classroom. I'm so lucky my dad can build things because he's going to custom make a tiered book shelf and toy shelves. Does anyone have recommendations on the type of food or dinnerware?