Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a physician and a first time Mom and am absolutely thrilled with this product. For all of you who are like me and read all the reviews (sometimes multiple times) before buying any product for your child (paying particular attention to safety, educational value, toy appeal to children, and ability to last for years to come), this is a great toy for your child. Believe me, I have researched this thoroughly. After spending weeks reading reviews about the different kitchen sets, I narrowed my choices to this Little Tikes kitchen and the Lifestyle Dream Kitchen. I chose this one b/c it had more interactive units (microwave makes 3 different sounds, stovetop recognizes what foods are placed on the burner, and the faucet has running water sounds), was less expensive, and had kitchen shutters. I do like the "real" look of the granite plastic Lifestyle kitchen but like another reviewer stated, looks aren't everything. The assembly was easy. My son can't get enough of this new toy. He usually plays with toys for <15 minutes, but this kitchen set occupied his time for 1 hour, which is a record! He likes to pull up a stool so that he can reach the buttons on the microwave and loves opening and shutting the kitchen shutters. There is plenty of room for multiple kids to play with and they love playing peek-a-boo with the shutters. Be sure you have the room in your car to take this home (I had to put both backseats down in my SUV) and also the room in your house b/c it does take up quite a bit of space. Yes, I wish that the cell phone was interactive as well, like the Dream Kitchen, but my son doesn't seem to mind and likes to take it in and out of the cradle and say "hello". The kitchen comes with sparse accessories so I bought a set of kitchen pots/pans/basic dishware for $10.00 and surprisingly, there is enough space to fit all these extra accessories. This kitchen is more expensive than most but I know that the durability, imaginative potential, and the appeal to children will make this toy a good investment for years to come.