Amy’s Free Ideas
Family Fun > Play with your Toddler > How to make food and utensils for a Cardboard kitchen
Fill the cupboard with food
The kitchen will not be fun to play in unless your kids have the tools to work with. Instead of throwing away containers when the food has been used up, save empty cardboard boxes, and plastic tubs and bottles. These make free toys to stock the cardboard pantry. If you don’t have toy dishes, paper plates, or disposable plastic plates work just as well. If you don’t have toy food, cut out magazine photos or newspaper advertisements of food, and glue them onto thin cardboard. Kids are good at using their imaginations. Sometimes grocery stores have recipe cards. Collect these and staple into a cookbook, or glue them to thin cardboard for pretend food.
Family Fun > Play with your Toddler > How to make a Cardboard kitchen
Fill the oven with plastic or styrofoam trays that fruits and vegetables are sold on. When they break, replace with new ones. Do not use meat trays since these can’t be sterilized.
Fill the cupboard with empty bottles, plastic tubs that had margarine or yogurt, as well as empty cans that have been washed out, or empty cartons, and boxes. Egg cartons can be filled with plastic Easter eggs.
Look around your kitchen to see if you have duplicate items that you won’t miss if they are used in the cardboard kitchen for awhile. Small items are especially good. Collect used communion cups, wash them, and use them for tiny glasses. Disposable paper or plastic plates are a good alternative if you don’t have play dishes. Many dollar stores do carry toy dish sets as well as toy food.
Empty boxes are not nearly as fun as if there is something in them. Styrofoam packing peanuts make a great pretend food. These can be a choking hazard, so don’t use them if your child is still putting things in her mouth.
Plastic bottle caps can add interest as well--to look like vegetables in the “stew.” Again, bottle caps can be a choking hazard, so don’t use them if your child is still putting things in her mouth.
If you have old metal or plastic pans, utensils, or metal baking dishes that you are going to throw away anyway, repurpose them for use in the cardboard kitchen instead of throwing them away.
Make a mini cookbook with free recipes cards from the grocery store. Staple them together, fasten with a clip, or sew the pages together. If you can’t find free recipe cards, you might be able to find small cookbooks at a dollar store. Another option is to cut up colorful fliers that grocery stores distribute to advertise sales. Staple together these pages into a mini cookbook.