The Collection Design Studio: Food Fun

I was warned numerous times when I was pregnant that raising a boy would mean purchasing Spray and Wash by the gallon, and bumps and bruises almost every day. Did I believe the warnings? Sort of, but I thought if I was careful enough, I can avoid the accidents. Boy was I wrong! A couple weeks ago Micah fell off a chair while pretending to be Captain America and dislocated his elbow. Compared to the six stitches he had when he was about two, this was a walk in the park to say the least. Because Micah's left arm was in a sling, almost all the fun things you can think of doing outdoors during the Summer slowly began to fade away. This was going to be a very interesting experience.

Last year we visited the Children's Museum of Tucson, Arizona. I loved the idea how each room of the museum was like a pretend city- supermarket, restaurant, post office, doctor's office, etc. Micah had a great time there, so I thought it would be fun to recreate that at our house with each room. The the supermarket part was his favorite, so we played that for hours and at the same time he was counting and organizing the food into different groups without knowing he was learning so much along the way.

I decided to write this blog to share some of the amazing play/learn toys that are out there today. Some of my favorite toys of Micah's are from Melissa and Doug's Food Play. Our Melissa and Doug collection at home has grown, but my favorites are still:

The Sushi Slicing Set, The Grill Set

Stir Fry Slicing Set, Ice Cream Parlor Set

Pizza Party Set

Melissa and Doug products are great because they are all made of wood, pieces are connected to one another by velcro so cutting and slicing seems realistic, and each piece is extremely durable. Which leads me to the con part. The pieces are so durable, that when flung, can do possible damage to a nice french door. And the price... well, Melissa and Doug toys can definitely do some damage to your wallet as well!

Lots of toy stores carry the plastic food pieces, but from my experience, those pieces get chewed up and the plastic caves in. I recently went to IKEA and found that they carry felt foods. Velcro connecting pieces as well, but for about the third of the price of Melissa and Doug AND no damage to be done here! Here's what we picked up:

With all our play food, we were able to recreate our day at the museum and I think Micah forgot that his arm was in a sling!

Here are some amazing creations that Etsy designers have come up with that I had to share (if I ever have a baby girl, I will definitely be buying these!):