Educo Master Carpenter Workbench Review

Kids love to take stuff apart and put it back together again. Educo's Master Carpenter Workbench would make an awesome green gift for your budding engineer. It's completely non-toxic and old-school adorable. Both high quality and good looking, there's no plastic, it's all wood, and even comes with extras like a tool belt.

It comes unassembled in a box and is easy to put together. There are a lot of plastic tool sets out there, but this is worlds apart.My four year old son thinks it's the bees knees.Wood feels good in your hands and there's no scary chemicals to worry about that can harm your children. Better for our environment and better for us.Guaranteed to keep them busy while you get dinner ready.

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Product Description:
Children with any interest in building won't be able to resist immersing themselves into the act of building, taking apart and building again with this stunning workbench. The simple design with a hutch to hold tools, side pocket for hardware and even a toolbelt are certain to offer an understanding of how tools can be used to build and simple mechanics.For ages 3 +

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Educo My Creative Cookery Club Review

Okay, so let me just say that I shopped around, to say the least, before deciding on this kitchen for my daughter's 2nd birthday. I actually bid on and paid for the KidKraft Large Kitchen, but for the first time in my ebay history, the seller dissappeared. No money, no kitchen. Anyways, so maybe having set my heart on the hefty Kidkraft kitchen had me a bit set up when I received this one.

Don't get me wrong, it is adorable! And I absolutely love all of the accessories that come with it - fantastic! We supplemented the wooden food supply and bought a set of silverware (all from Target) and it is the pieces that came with this kitchen that I consistently find my daughter playing with. She especially loves the salt and pepper shakers and the pegs for hanging some of the items on. She is always bringing me something to eat on the plates, as well. I think she agrees with me, the wood of this kitchen and its pieces just feels really good to the hand - it has a satiny clean feel to it.

My parents had recommended laquering it to protect it against water stains. Heck no! I had been completely committed to not getting a huge plastic monstrosity, no matter how many bells and whistles it had. Actually I think the bells and whistles do children a disservice by encouraging creative laziness. So, the fact that this kitchen is all wood, clean, nontoxic, I really love that!

Its also important to mention that assembly was easy and impressive. The entire deal goes together with less than a dozen screws. Its almost like a puzzle and I appreciated the ingenuity of its construction.

So what don't I like?It is a lot smaller than I envisioned. My daughter isn't that tall, but she is almost too tall to comfortably access the oven and other door. They just sort of disappear. Also, for the price, it does seem to be a bit flimsy - only time will tell whether that is the case or just a perception. I've also been dissappointed that the sink didn't come with a removable bowl like so many other kitchens. It doesn't seem to bother my daughter who is forever washing her hands there, but I wonder how long that will last.

Basically, I think it is a wonderful kitchen for the young toddler years. Everything is soft and curved and light. Everything fits in little hands and feels good, too. It is wonderful to have all of the coordinating pieces and it really is just the cutest thing you've ever seen!

However, I wouldn't recommend it for older or multiple children. I expect to upgrade to a bigger, heavier-duty kitchen sometime in the future.

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Product Description:
My Creative Cookery Club is perfect for the young cook who enjoys role play. Little chefs can pretend they're making dinner on the stove or in the oven and do the cleanup in the sink too. Pots, pans, play food and utensils are included so playing house or restaurant is as real as possible. The green and natural wood kitchen design has an oven with a see-through door, a cabinet that doubles as a refrigerator or cupboard, a sink, knobs to turn and a utensil rack. The kitchen assembles easily with hardware and tools provided. When assembled it measures L- 21.25" x W- 11.75" x H- 31.25". Ages 3-8.

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Haba Play Cooker Cooktop Review

OUr 4 yr old son loves to cook and anytime we go anywhere with a pretend kitchen, we always feel guilty that we don't have one at home.Actually, prior to finding this, I was shopping for and intended to buy a larger play kitchen from Plan Toys but felt it was so tiny for the price and we are just running out of space for yet another item, even if it was on the smaller side.And our 4 yr old is really tall so we felt he would dwarf the Plan Toys kitchen set items (stove, fridge, etc.).I discovered this while looking for some wooden food items and it is perfect.We put it on a desk/table and it can also be used on the kitchen counter next to the real stove.Very durable, made in Germany and the perfect size if you want something that doesn't take up so much space.I would highly recommend this.

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Product Description:
A small cooker for children to play with on table edges or steps. Size: Diameter of cooking plates: 15 and 12 cm/9.8 and 5.9 inches. Cooker: W 37 x D 21 cm/14.6 x 8.3 inchesProduct imported from Germany

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Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen Review

We bought this kitchen in the hopes it would be a less toxic option despite being made in China. Hape, parent company of Educo, in response to having a lead recall on its Target line a few years ago seems to have put even more safety measures in place to prevent these sorts of toxic things from being applied to their toys. They source their paints and glues from Germany only, their plywood comes from Russia, and it's my understanding that only the manufacturing end takes place in China. That said, I was disappointed to find that there are 3 parts to this kitchen that are made of particle board - the inner shelves and the back of the kitchen, thus the 4 stars.

That aside, the kitchen is absolutely adorable. I do wish I'd had more details about the measurements of various parts before ordering and assembling the kitchen, as there seems to be so few details about this item online and as of yet, no reviews.

Overall size: 27.5" tall X 22" wide X 13" deep

I haven't gifted it to the children yet, as Christmas is 3 months away, but I wonder if it will be large enough to accommodate 2 children at once. I imagine they'll find a way.

Counter height: 20"

This will be a little short for my 95th percentile 4-year old (we estimated she would need a 22" counter), but should be perfect for our 18-month old.

Sink: 2.25" deep, 6" x 6" wide
Ample room for washing dishes unlike the comparable Educo My Creative Cookery Club

Burners: Large 4.25", Small 3.5"

Usable counter space: About 5" x 9"

Inside shelves: 10.5" depth x 6" high x 9.5" wide (oven side) 8.25" wide (cabinet side)

Two last things worth mentioning:

1- All those crazy grooves in the upper shelf are made to perfectly accommodate (from left to right) spatula & serving spoon, knives, and two plates sold in the Educo Gourmet Chef Cookware set.

2- We bought this kitchen elsewhere for a small bit more with all the accessories in Educo Gourmet Chef Cookware and Educo Gourmet Chef Cuisine for a really fair price. I'd recommend that option to someone considering the version offered on Amazon. Both the cookware and cuisine are awesome and fit so perfectly that I don't really get why they're sold separately to begin with. I plan on reviewing them separately for anyone interested in dimensions on those things. The combined kitchen set also has much more attractive red dials for the stove (these click in a pleasing way when you turn them), and red and blue knobs for the sink. It really improves the look of the whole kitchen.

Overall, this really is a very sweet kitchen, though perhaps not as indoor-air-quality friendly as I had initially hoped. Construction takes just over an hour, with a bit of cursing on the poorly matched holes for the doors, and the painfully small screws which you'd need elf hands to properly manage. The larger screws not only go into the wood but a specially implanted metal piece that in some places was put in crooked. The screws wouldn't catch at first, and we had to use a really tiny screwdriver to jimmy these metal thingies back into place. Still, not the worst item I've ever had to put together.

I'd recommend this to someone on a budget, looking for a kitchen made by a slightly better-than-average-company.

I hope that this is helpful to someone else who feels, as I do, that shopping online leaves you missing all those tiny details that you'd just rather know before you make a purchase.

UPDATE:

This kitchen ended up being the perfect size for both my girls, even the oldest one. They love it, and have played with it daily for the past few months. Since I originally purchased it we've run a lead home test kit on the green and orange components. While these are not the most reliable tests, I think it's worth mentioning that those two colors came up negative for lead. So those are the pros.

The sink faucet issue mentioned by other reviewers can pretty easily be fixed with Elmer's glue - and it is an annoyance. We glued the sink in too. However, the single biggest gripe I have with the kitchen is that although we let it air for months before Christmas, the smell of the unfinished interior MDF shelves is still INCREDIBLY STRONG. It bothers me. I'm thinking of replacing those MDF shelves, since we're pretty much stuck with the kitchen, but based solely on the smell when the cabinet/oven doors are open, I probably would have saved up and bought one component at a time of the Plan Toys kitchen since they use E-Zero (no formaldehyde) glues, and do not seem to use MDF at all.

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Product Description:
Young chefs who watch their dad or mom prepare meals will adore this wood child-size gourmet kitchen to create their own mealtime treats.Peek into the oven through the window to check on dinner or the cake that's baking.Big knobs can turn the cooktop "on" or "off" or fill a pot with running water.Cleanup time is a snap with the sink, hutch, towel rack and cupboard to store dinnerware, pots and pans.Some young cooks may decide to make the cupboard a refrigator, instead.The simple classic design and natural colors offer loads of possibilities for playtime. For ages 3+.Dimensions 21.97" x 13.08" x 27.56".Adult assembly required.

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