I don’t know if I’ve never properly grown up but I totally delight in my children’s toys and games and thoroughly throw myself into their play with them. I was a major toy fanatic when I was little and when it came to pretend play I was a master! My friend Angela and I would spend hours devising story lines and then act them out, we both still talk about it now and it formed such a massive part of our childhood. There was one game in particular, ‘The King and Queen Game’, all the children on our road played that with us at some point and it was BRILLIANT! We had vivid imaginations and boy did we have fun using them! I played with my toys including my baby dolls way past the age expected – I think at one stage my Mum might have even been a little concerned that I’d never give them up… I think part of it must have been the actress in me!

I watch Florence now and can see so much of me in her. She has this fabulous imagination and plays games both on her own and with her friends which I think majorly belies her age! Sometimes I can’t quite believe how in-depth she is, how much detail she uses and well, just how wonderful it all is. She, like me, likes to play act and I recognise exactly why she’s doing it and know precisely how much fun it is! One of the things she does at the moment is ‘put on a show’. Goodness only knows where she’s got the idea, we never have tele on that isn’t CBeebies, but she sits on her new little armchair, shhh’s the audience, welcomes us to the ‘Florence Show’ and away she goes with her interviews, entertaining stories, jokes and performances… It’s really quite unbelievable, she’s only 3! Another favourite game is playing shop, just like I did, she enjoys the pretend browse down the aisles, choosing of goods and purchase. Sometimes she likes to shop and other times be the shop keeper with me and Jimmy being her customers. There are lots of games she likes to play but I think her most loved one, one that’s been on her cards for over a year now, is playing house!

Florence likes to iron, I don’t know who she’s seen doing the ironing to want to copy because it certainly isn’t me but ironing she does. She also loves to put her baby dolls to bed, change their nappies, feed them, change the sheets in their cot (yep, she really does do that) and most of all make people pretend cups of tea and cook us all pretend food. Sometimes we even have to look at a menu! Now these games are all using her imagination which is fab but I do think it’s sometimes important to have props as it aids play and helps them enjoy it all the more. We don’t have props for everything she likes, she doesn’t have a toy shop for example and although it doesn’t stop her playing the game I know it would be even more exciting for her if she did have one. Well, one can’t have everything so a shop, for now, will just have to be ‘imagined’ but I did want her to have something extra special to assist her with her most played game and Florence’s birthday was made all the more special by this one particular gift! A toy which would have made me dance around with pride when I was her age and I’m happy to say made her do the exact same. Sometimes a really special toy is an absolute must and I’m so pleased with this one as I know it will see her all the way through her childhood, it’s one that will last and last, a timeless classic and the toy of all toys for any little girl: a play kitchen from Plum Products!

I was sent the Plum Products Cottage Kitchen to review and I quite literally can’t fault it! Have you seen it? It’s just beautiful! It’s the type of toy that makes you just go ahhh! You kind of immediately think you wouldn’t be able to afford one because it looks so special but it’s not as expensive as it looks; I was so surprised when I saw it in the flesh as had assumed it couldn’t possibly be as good as it is for the price it retails at. This is the toy that makes children’s eyes stand out on stalks when they uncover it on a birthday and is worth every single penny of its tame RRP of £160.

This is it! Bet you can see what my excitement is about now can’t you!

The kitchen in real life is exactly as you see it on this picture. I know very often toys, food, basically anything advertised, isn’t quite up to the pictures on the box but with this one it absolutely is! 100%. There is nothing you’ll think ‘hang on a minute’ about whatsoever but we’ll come back to that in a moment.

Firstly I’ll start at the very beginning, the order and delivery were swift and prompt and the box, although heavy, was really quite small; I was surprised. It was very easy to store and hide until the big birthday build the night before and when we opened the box I half expected there to be missing quite a few parts? I couldn’t understand how it could be packaged up so compactly and still contain everything required but when we opened the box and did the count to match the comprehensive list (with pictures) of what should be included, everything was present! Now Jonny just had to get building! The instructions say the build will take 2 hours and 2 people, well I’ve never been much of a DIY help so I left him to it and we expected it to take double the time due to being on his own. We were pleased to find it only took an extra hour and it was, he says, easy to do on your own. I had thought he’d call me for the bits where you absolutely need a second pair of hands but he never did and using our own Phillips screwdriver with all the nuts, bolts and other bits included, he built Florence’s kitchen with no trouble at all! The holes are all pre-drilled and the instructions are step by step and easy to follow.

The Big Birthday Build!

I think Jonny quite enjoys these jobs and when he was done we both couldn’t wait to cover it up with a sheet and put it in the play room at my Mum’s house for Florence to uncover on her birthday morning.

My initial impressions were that it really wasn’t as imposing as I’d thought it would be. I’d assumed we’d have to leave it at my Mum’s house because we don’t have much room but I think if we moved a few bits round we could possibly fit this in Florence’s room which would be wonderful as she’d get to play with it all the time. I’d thought perhaps with having a small flat that it might take over a bit and I wasn’t sure I fancied that buthaving seen it in all it’s glory, I wouldn’t mind it being here all the time at all. The fact it has an oven, microwave, cupboard under the sink and a massive fridge freezer could even provide storage space for other toys when not being played with so it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility to have it in a small space. saying that it is big enough to make a child just say WOW, it’s a real show stopper of a toy!

Other things which instantly stood out were the quality of the materials (made from premium FSC^® certified timber) and the fact that there was so much attention to detail. I particularly like the fact that the knobs make a clicking sound when turned and when the doors shut they close with a click as the magnets snap them shut (saying that makes it seem brutal but no little fingers could be hurt in the shut of the doors so don’t worry)! The taps twist round, the sink comes completely out if you want it to and with all the other painted on features such as a shopping list on the freezer door and an ice dispenser of the front of the fridge, it just makes it totally and utterly special. A little girl’s dream toy! Florence couldn’t believe her eyes and clapped her hands over her mouth with glee then she didn’t stop playing with it from that moment on. We bought her some bits like a sponge/dustpan and brush set and some play food to go with it and wrapped them up and put them inside the cupboards which she loved. Also, the kitchen comes with a set of plastic utensils like a saucepan and frying pan with spoons and spatulas so we wrapped them up too and she was thrilled!

She pulled off a sheet to reveal her new toy! Can you imagine getting this when you were three?! I love it!

She was very pleased to have the extra bits like the utensils (which come with it) wrapped up and hidden in the cupboards!

Florence has been having an absolute ball playing with this one. I don’t think she could believe her luck. We’ve had some super suppers ‘cooked’ by her and she’s been keeping it all very spick and span also as is constantly cleaning it! It’s been utterly delightful to watch and I know that in years to come it will still give her many hours of ‘pretend play’ fun. It’s super quality and extremely sturdy. I have absolutely no problem leaving Jimmy in the play room next to it and like I mentioned above, its excellent storage in itself! My fave features are the fact the fridge/freezer has a door for each, the cupboard under the sink (which has a canvas cover instead of a door) gives it all a real country kitchen feel and the fact that it literally has everything, including a microwave! Florence’s microwave porridge is JUST fabulous!

The detailing is wonderful, I love the shelf for cookery books and food! Just great!

I had no idea that Plum Products made such beautiful toys and having now looked at their website I can see I will be visiting them again soon! Lots on the wish list now! The outdoor stuff is out of this world! Quite literally OUT OF THIS WORLD! They do wooden play houses which are just divine and give old favourite toys like sand pits a real twist not to mention the other play kitchens – there are FOUR to choose from ! I simply love the picnic table they do for children which doubles as a sandpit – genius!

We just love this kitchen and can recommend it whole heartedly. I defy anyone to be disappointed with it! It’s a luxurious toy without a major price tag and I don’t know any little girl (or boy for that matter) who wouldn’t love to indulge their imaginations and get ‘cooking’! Inspiring our children to play like this can only be a good thing!