What Kind Of Play Food Do You Have??

[My Lil' Monkeys]

Hello,
I'm in search of new play food for my kitchen. I want food that lasts longer than the cheap sets sold in bulk that is the soft plastic. What kind do you have? Is Melissa and Doug worth the price tag? I kind of would like food that you could pretend cut with the Velcro. Also, do you allow babies 18month and under to play with the play food?

Thank You

[canadiancare]

The best food I have is by Battat and is rubber not thin plastic. I have a set of Melissa and Doug that is wooden and I dislike it very much.

I also have some of the hard plastic, velcro food which works quite well.

[butterfly]

I was lucky enough to have some play food donated to our daycare. It has the velcro and is a hard plastic. I don't know the brand. I'm assuming it must be Melissa and Doug or something very similar. I absolutely love it. It has lasted forever! I have a 2 year old that is still a chewer. This food has been chewed on, stepped on, ran over, etc and it still looks like new. If I ever have to add to my play food, I'll never buy the cheap stuff again. What I have holds up so well to weekly/daily washings. I think it's worth the money. I don't know how many sets I would have boughten by now if I didn't have these.

I wonder if I don't have a small world's set...

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Plan Toys play food. The kind that cuts into two pieces (velcro) and the kind that doesn't.

Plan Toys is a far better brand than Melissa and Doug in terms of quality. I avoid wooden M&D toys as much as I possibly can IF it is not a natural wood toy (unpainted).

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Plan+Toys+food

[daycarediva]

I have all Melissa and Doug and I like them MUCH better than any other play food I have had. The kids all love the little sets (we have most of them, pizza, cupcakes, sushi) I have some homemade(etsy) felt food as well, but that isn't as big of a hit.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

My favorite is a set of little tykes that I don't think they make any more. I bought it 15years ago with the shopping cart at a yard sale for $5. I have the little tyke dishes from my dd who is 22... So 20 years old.
I also have the cutting food. Heavier plastic. The kids love them.

[snbauser]

Plan Toys play food. The kind that cuts into two pieces (velcro) and the kind that doesn't.

Plan Toys is a far better brand than Melissa and Doug in terms of quality. I avoid wooden M&D toys as much as I possibly can IF it is not a natural wood toy (unpainted).

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...Plan+Toys+food

What is the difference between Plan Toys and M&D? I have never seen/heard of Plan Toys. I have mostly M&D wooden food. I really like it except that the paint seems to chip off very easily. Do the Plan Toys one's last longer?

[EAP]

I have the Melissa and Doug wooden and felt also the ones that attach with Velcro - the paint chips pretty fast - so I won't buy them again - the kids really like the felt foods and the velcro ones they can "cut" are a big hit - I will just find a better quality product with paint that won't chip.

[Crazy In Mo]

If you're shopping for the food that can be "cut" I suggest Oriental Trading. It's about $15 and you get over 20 pieces of food. The Plan Toys play food mentioned above is about the same price but you get alot less pieces. I've only had my set from Oriental Trading for a couple months but seems to be holding up well

[Jewels]

I have a few of the learning resources sets of healthy, breakfast/lunch/dinner, and I have a bigger set of fruits and vegetables(true to size) from discount school supply, they are all really nice I also got sick of the thin cheap plastics.

[MarinaVanessa]

I was going to buy a wooden set of food too but because I can't put it in my dishwasher to wash it I decided against it. ::.

Instead I went with the Lakeshore Learning multicultural food set and the grocery set. The other play food that I was buying at target wasn't lasting me more than 6 months to a year tor so. The Lakeshore stuff is plastic and has lasted 3 years so far with no damaged items and that's going through the top rack of my dishwasher weekly. Some of the grocery set has lost the paper labels because I ran them through the dishwasher but the kids and I don't mind that and they can pretend that the bottles and cans are whatever they want them to be. They're a pricey investment up front but at least they last so for me they're well worth it. They have other sets also.

Multicultural Set ($49.99)


Play-Food Assortment ($49.99)


They also have baskets ($29.99 each basket with food)


Grocery Set ($39.99)

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

What is the difference between Plan Toys and M&D? I have never seen/heard of Plan Toys. I have mostly M&D wooden food. I really like it except that the paint seems to chip off very easily. Do the Plan Toys one's last longer?

My Plan Toys food has been in heavy use for the past year and it all looks brand new. No paint chipped off at all. happyface That is the thing I've noticed happens often with M&D toys, unfortunately.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I was going to buy a wooden set of food too but because I can't put it in my dishwasher to wash it I decided against it. ::.

Instead I went with the Lakeshore Learning multicultural food set and the grocery set. The other play food that I was buying at target wasn't lasting me more than 6 months to a year or so. The Lakeshore stuff is plastic and has lasted 3 years so far with no damaged items and that's going through the top rack of my dishwasher weekly. The grocery set has lost the paper labels because I ran them through the dishwasher but the kids and I don't mind that and they can pretend that the bottles and cans are whatever they want them to be. They're a pricey investment up front but at least they last so for me they're well worth it. They have other sets also.

Multicultural Set ($49.99)


Play-Food Assortment ($49.99)


They also have baskets ($29.99)


Grocery Set ($39.99)


http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

That'd be a HUGE pro to having plastic food!!! DISHWASHER SAFE!

[My Lil' Monkeys]

I was going to buy a wooden set of food too but because I can't put it in my dishwasher to wash it I decided against it. ::.

Instead I went with the Lakeshore Learning multicultural food set and the grocery set. The other play food that I was buying at target wasn't lasting me more than 6 months to a year tor so. The Lakeshore stuff is plastic and has lasted 3 years so far with no damaged items and that's going through the top rack of my dishwasher weekly. Some of the grocery set has lost the paper labels because I ran them through the dishwasher but the kids and I don't mind that and they can pretend that the bottles and cans are whatever they want them to be. They're a pricey investment up front but at least they last so for me they're well worth it. They have other sets also.

Multicultural Set ($49.99)


Play-Food Assortment ($49.99)


They also have baskets ($29.99 each basket with food)


Grocery Set ($39.99)


http://www.lakeshorelearning.com

The grocery set is a heavy plastic?? Like if a young toddler got a hold of it that the plastic wouldn't cave in. I love the idea of having dishwasher safe food!!

[Thetotspot]

Im going to agree with everybody on the melissa and doug stuff. I opened in july with all brand new melissa and doug toys...my gosh...they are all chipping and will soon need to be thrown away and replaced. They hold together well...they just dont hold onto their paint well . All of our play food is melissa and doug. 8 months in it all needs replaced.