Little Tikes Easy Store Jr. Play Table with Umbrella Review
Little Tikes Play Smarter Cook 'N Learn Kitchen Review
 The kitchen speaks to teach foods, colors, shapes, and sizes. View larger. |
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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. |
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