Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen by HaPe Toys

My 2 1/2 year old is at the age now where he wants to help me in the kitchen. But with the "help" of a 2 year old, things seem to take 3 times longer than they normally do. And so began my quest for a play kitchen. Here were my requirements:

• HAD to be wood
• Small enough to be in my kitchen so my kids can "cook" while I'm cooking
• Esthetically pleasing since it is in MY kitchen!

After all my research, I am pleased to introduce you to the Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen by HaPe toys - its the PERFECT kitchen! If you're looking to get a play kitchen for your kids this Christmas, go ahead and order this one, you WON'T be sorry.

To the right you will see the Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen all set up in my own kitchen. It is just the right size for my kids, and just the right size for ME to not be bumping into it as I move around my kitchen!

This kitchen has the perfect amount of detail while still being simple enough to allow my kids imaginations to soar. The countertop includes two burners and a sink with faucet and hot/cold knobs. There are also knobs that click when you turn them for the burners. There is a shelf to put items on, and cupboards with a shelf to store food, pots and pans, etc. One of the doors has a window to peek through.


I was a little bit nervous before I received the kitchen about the colors. They looked a bit "florescent" for my taste, but they are actually MUCH more subdued in real life. The combination of natural wood, bright yellow/green and orange is so adorable.

Now let's talk about the quality. Oh the quality. I feel like I've added a piece of furniture to my kitchen rather than a toy. This kitchen is solid, sturdy and will for sure withstand the abuse, err I mean LOVE, my kids will throw its way.

My husband assembled the kitchen in about 30-40 minutes. I was in the other room entertaining the baby, where I overheard several comments during the assembly process that shocked me. I heard things like, "Wow, this is incredibly easy." , "I can't believe how nice this is.", "I am so impressed with this." Let me just tell you that I've never heard things like that come out of my husband's mouth while putting something together. Normally I hear at least a few cuss words dropped, and how ridiculous this piece of junk is, and why can't companies make good instructions, etc. Sound familiar, anyone? So have your husbands take a look at this:

All in all, I give this kitchen two major thumbs up! My husband actually enjoyed assembling it, I'm super happy with the way it looks in my kitchen, and my kids couldn't love it enough. I have enjoyed some pretty darn delicious meals made by my kids at their Gourmet Chef Kitchen!

GET YOUR OWN!! The Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen be purchased from the HaPe Toys website here, and retails for $129.95.

WIN YOUR OWN!! That's right, HaPe toys wants to GIVE one of our lucky SIMPLE readers an Educo Gourmet Chef Kitchen...just in time for Christmas! To enter, visit the HaPe website, then come back here and comment which product that's new for 2009 you think is cool.

For additional entries: (comment once for each entry)

• Blog about this giveaway linking back to SIMPLE and HaPe Toys.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Sign up for the HaPe newsletter
  
• Become a new follower of SIMPLE
  
• Become a Facebook fan of SIMPLE

That gives a total of SIX entries, all increasing your odds to WIN!!

Winner will be randomly chosen and announced 12/10/09. Good luck!!