Our Play Kitchen

by RachelFlores
(DFW, Texas)

This is my daughter's play kitchen. It is located in our kitchen and is by far the most used play space in the house. She loves to "cook" while I clean the kitchen or make dinner.

My husband made the kitchen set for her second birthday. It was his first big woodworking project and though not perfect, we love it. The table and chair are from ikea. She has stainless steel pots, pans and silverware, all child sized, along with some wooden bowls and lots of wooden food. I plan on making her some wool felt food of Christmas.

Sitting at the table are the two Waldorf dolls I've made my daughter. The one in pink is a Joy's Little Baby. I gave it to her for her first birthday and they have been fast friends ever since, sleeping together every night. The second doll I gave to her the month before her brother was born. I made it to look like her, but it also had diapers and clothes she could change. She still prefers her first doll right now.

We use the cloth napkins that are located on the table in the basket daily and in front is a wooden bird made from the tutorial on your site. We already had wooden blocks, made from scrap wood, but now I love making wooden shapes to go with them.

I came to the natural parenting, natural toys mentality by the way of cloth diapers. I admit that before I had children, I recycled cans and paper where I could, but didn't give much thought to the environment. One thing that helped push me in this direction though was an innate desire to make things. Ever since I was little, I've been a crafter, more for the process than the product. Since college I've really worked on the product, realizing that it is very wasteful to make something that is not worth keeping. I love making everything I can (clothes, toys, baby food and everything else I can think of) for my almost 3 year old daughter and my 6 month old son.

I love the idea of natural materials and buying heirloom quality. In the past year we've gotten rid of almost all our cheap plastic toys and now try to only buy high quality toys, preferably made with natural materials, or make our own out of natural materials. I don't know if we will ever go "no plastic", but I certainly think more about my purchases, how they will effect the environment and how they will effect my children's development. I look for open ended, developmentally appropriate toys that will help them grow into responsible, environmentally conscious adults.