Little Tikes Play Smarter Cook 'N Learn Kitchen

Little Tikes Play Smarter Cook 'N Learn Kitchen Review

Little Tikes Play Smarter Cook 'N Learn Kitchen Feature

• Teaches color, shapes, numbers, letters, following directions, sorting and measuring
• Comes with 3 food sets: Sandwich Set with 7 accessories, Veggie Stir Fry set with 9 accessories, Mixing Bowl Set with 16 accessories
• Recipe cards are programmed for free-play recognition
• All food sets play their own song at the end of each lesson
• Includes 38 accessories

The interactive Play Smarter Cook'n Learn Kitchen by Little Tikes encourages young kids to learn to cook and to cook to learn. Intended for ages three and older, the kid-size (42-inch-high) kitchenette comes ready for imaginative play with 37 accessories including a wide variety of plastic foods, cookware, and utensils. The kitchen itself features a refrigerator, oven, sink, stovetop, counter, and storage shelf.

The kitchen speaks to teach foods, colors, shapes, and sizes. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Interactive kitchen talks, recognizes foods, teaches, and responds The Bad: A little time and muscle needed for initial setup In a Nutshell: Plenty of accessories and games for hours of independent and interactive play At a Glance Ages: 3 and older Requires: 3 AA batteries (not included)

But this is no ordinary kitchen! When it's turned on, any time your child puts one of the food items on the built-in cutting board or in a frying pan on the burner, the kitchen recognizes the food and names it out loud. Plus, the kitchen has an interactive recipe game mode that helps kids learn how to follow directions as well as to recognize foods, food groups, colors, numbers, shapes, sizes, and textures--all in an encouraging and fun way. This kitchen comes with a place setting and three recipe food sets: Breakfast, Cutting Fruit Salad, and Veggie Stir Fry.

Plenty to Do in the Talking Kitchen: Play and Learn, Cook and Sing
The kitchen is made out of durable, easily wiped-down plastic and an internal electronics and speaker system for the kitchen's food recognition and voice abilities. The oven and the fridge both have doors that swing open and closed, and a handy little towel rack hangs over the space where the included wastebasket nestles. The recipe cards slide neatly into a holder on the back wall, providing a handy reference when gathering ingredients at the start of each game. Each recipe food set has two levels, offering you two games per recipe card.

The kitchen's upbeat, female voice speaks in rhymed couplets and often breaks into enthusiastic snippets of song. If a child makes a mistake, the voice remains friendly and encouraging--and each successfully completed step is met with abundant praise. At the end of a game, the kitchen busts out into a fun song about the lessons learned. The entire kitchen set is backed by a 1-year limited warranty, and other Little Tikes deluxe appliances and recipe packs (sold separately) can be used with the kitchen as well.

What's Cooking? A Kitchen Test Run
The initial setup for the Cook'n Learn Kitchen takes a little time and adult muscle, although no drilling is necessary. You just need a Phillips head screwdriver, the provided screws, and three AA batteries (not included).

Once all the parts are in place and accessories unpacked, the kitchen instantly invites play and interaction. The fruits and butter stick have an innovative Velcro design, giving you the repeatable satisfaction of slicing the fruits in half or cutting off a slab of butter. When you throw something into the pan, the kitchen makes a sizzling sound. Another highlight--the plastic egg cracks in half to release the adorable cloth egg yolk inside.

The verbal directions follow step-by-step recipe logic, and usually end excitingly in a culminating dish such as a pancake, omelet, or stir fry. The spoken responses have a fair amount of variety to keep things fresh, and the songs will have your child singing along in no time. But even when the voice is turned off, the kitchen offers plenty for an active little cook to enjoy.

Use the knife to slice foods. View larger.

When you put something in the pan, it makes a sizzling frying sound. View larger.

What's in the Box
12-piece interactive kitchen, 9-piece Cutting Fruit Salad Set, 8-piece Veggie Stir Fry Set, 11-piece Breakfast Set, 5-piece place setting, 3 recipe cards, wastebasket, necessary screws, and instructions.
The Little Tikes Play Smarter Kitchen features two interactive play modes. In Free Play Mode, children play as they please and the kitchen "recognizes" the food they use through RFID technology. In Learning Mode, kitchen dwellers are prompted to follow the instructions given on the recipe cards. Requires 2 "AA" batteries, not included. Measures 36"L x 13"W x 42"H. Adult assembly required.