Play food and toy kitchens are so much fun for kids to use and they have so many possibilities. They can be very educational for young children and are a great way to introduce them to healthy foods. So don't stop at just pretending to cook, think outside the kitchen and try some of these simple yet fun games and activities all involving toy food.
**This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
I have had several sets of play food for my daughter's but nothing has held up quite like the Learning Resources toys. We have had this set for about fours years and it has survived a rough preschooler and now a teething toddler who likes to chew on everything. They are a thick rubber material and even after countless chewing sessions they still look like they're new! Plus the set we have has five plastic buckets with colors on them which are great for sorting and different activities.
Play Restaurant
This one is kind of an obvious one but it can still be so much fun. Even if you don't have a play kitchen this is so easy to play and interact with your child. You can make a recycled restaurant menu like this one featured in another one of my posts and customize it with your child's name for added fun. Then take turns ordering meals or combinations of food and have some imaginative play.
Color Sorting
Teach young children about colors and comparing size by using play food. Our food set included these super cute buckets with labels already on them to sort by colors. If you don’t have the set it’s fine, just grab some buckets, bowls or boxes. Sit down with your child and put one of each color in the containers and then sort the rest with them by saying the colors out loud and the name of the food.
Sensory Bin- Pretend Garden
This activity is great if you want to add some fun sensory play. You can do this one if you have a sand box or make a simple sensory bin using dry beans or rice. Have fun planting a pretend garden, sort the food by types or colors. You can also use some recycled cardboard to create signs for the garden. Draw pictures of the different foods and label your garden. Then using a small basket let your child harvest their foods and play farmer.
For more easy sensory box ideas check out this post: Sensory Box Ideas For Toddlers
Veggies Vs. Fruit
My child sometimes has a hard time identifying fruits vs veggies. So we have started to show the difference through her play food. We used two large pieces of colored paper and wrote 'V' for vegetables on one and 'F' for fruit on the other. Then we talked about each piece of food and sorted them by type. You can also use this opportunity to talk about a fun recipe or food that uses each fruit or veggie and try to get your child excited to try some new meals.
Find the Food
If you have a ball pit, sand box or anything else where you can easily hide the toys you can try this one. We use a small ball pit that folds up easily for storage and my kids love it. The sides easily fold down so my little one year old can jump in with no problems.
All you have to do is simply hide the food. If you don't have a ball pit available you can still try this by hiding them throughout the house. Even throw a bunch of pillows and blankets on the floor and hide the play food throughout it.
Then give your child a basket and set the timer (we generally do 1 minute). After the time is up help your child count the food they found. You can also sort their findings by color or type (veggies, fruit, meat,etc).
Make Silly Faces
This activity really lets your child use their imagination. Using your toy food see what silly faces you can make using different combinations. In the past we have even used playdough for the base of the face and then build on that with the toy food for some added fun. You could even use playdough to do the opposite; build silly faces on top of the toy food with the playdough.
Did you try any of these activities and if so which ones did your kids like the most?