My eldest son started to love playing cook when he saw his cousin’s play kitchen. It all started whenever we would visit her. So that he could have his own, I tried to look for a second hand play kitchen online, but I didn’t see any designs or prices that I liked. Before I started to create this, I did some research on Pinterest to get more details and ideas on how to create one. Unfortunately, I do not have a step-by-step tutorial to create this, but here are some tips I’d like to share for creating your own play kitchen. It took me 2 weeks on and off, since I had the kids around. I mostly used diaper boxes, with the oven being made out of a box I got from Walmart. I used construction paper to cover-up all the boxes entirely. To seal the edges, I used blue-colored duct tape from Hobby Lobby. In my opinion, this is very important to protect the paper from tearing, especially from those little hands.
Here’s the oven, stove and microwave:
I used an old thick insulation foam board as the wall for the microwave and oven. I made holes in the foam board and the microwave and oven boxes. Through those holes, I used a strong, tight rope to tie them all together.
For the right side of the “oven” I used the Philippine flag as the design. I was born and raised in the Philippines and my kids have Filipino blood too, so I wanted to pay tribute to my homeland. Am I proud of my country? Oo naman! Syempre! (Of course!) 🙂
And of course, I am also proud to live in Texas! So on the left side of the “oven,” I used the Texas flag as the design. “Howdy, y’all!” Nope, I don’t really talk like that. (Not yet…)
I used boxes again to cut out the stove top ranges. Underneath each range, I laid down orange construction paper as a base to add some pop and color. This was inspired by Pinterest. Using a glue gun, I made sure it was totally secured so that the kids wouldn’t be able to remove or peel it off easily.
I wish I could have made twistable stove knobs, but I didn’t have any ideas on how to create them, so I created non-movable ones. Haha. Well, at least there are knobs. For the oven, I created a magnetic closure so that the oven door could easily open and close. I made sure the magnet was embossed inside the box and really secured with the glue gun. Again, this is important so that it will be safe for the kids.
Here’s my son, ready to eat some sweets.
This is the microwave. My son love this! It has also a magnetic closure, so it allows easy opening and closing as well.
I experimented with the microwave top design by using duct tape, for a more interesting and fun look.
This is one of the good things about this part of the play kitchen; the numbers. I can teach my son about numbers in either English or Tagalog. If I say, “Okay son, Pindutin mo na yong ‘Lima.’” (Translation: Okay son, Press the 5 now.”) He’ll look for the number and press it!
Here’s the other part of the play kitchen. It is a counter top and a sink. It is also made from diaper boxes. I found a cheap steel bowl from a thrift store and used it for the sink basin. I went to Hobby Lobby to grab this fabric, as a cover for the sink bottom. This cover was inspired by my grandmother’s Philippine kitchen. When my grandmother used to live in a nipa (palm) hut she had fabric to cover the bottom of the sink.
For the faucet, I used paper towel roll tubes covered with duct tape. It wasn’t that smoothly done, but I like how simple and colorful it is.
My son making coffee for his Dada.
Before and After
Well, I guess this is good way to expose my kids to cooking, so that someday they will be the ones to cook and prepare their own meals. 😉
I hope you all find some inspiration from this post! 🙂
Have a great week!