Melissa and Doug Cutting Food Box

I gave this to my daughter for her 4th birthday. She was interested in it immediately. At an age when you want to do everything yourself, this toy gives a feeling of accomplishment. She found it very enjoyable to chop food to prepare "soup" for her babies. Her big sister, 8 years old, could hardly wait for her turn to chop food, too. This is a very well-made, durable toy, great for imaginative play.

We bought this for my daughter when she was 18 months, and she absolutely loves this toy. She "cuts" food multiple times a day.. and is a pro at it! At first, I had to show her how to cut the food.. and she would get frustrated easily when she couldnt do it on her own, but it didnt take long and she mastered the skill of cutting.

The food items are very durable. I do have two drawbacks to this toy though:

- First, my daughter plays with this toy multiple times a day. She is a pro at cutting it up.. but at 22 months, she still doesnt know how to put the food back together. That means, she cuts everything up, and there is a HUGE pile of broken food on the floor! I have to put them all back together for her so she can cut up again. Hopefully she will learn how to do this on her own soon..

- Second, the velcro is starting to wear out on some of the food. They still stick together.. but not as tightly as they did when the toy was new. So, I'm a little concerned that we have only had this toy for less than 5 months and the velcro has already started to wear down the "stickiness" for the food stick together. Would be better if they were magnets instead of velcro..

Overall, very good toy though.. and keeps my daughter entertained for a long time - highly recommend this toy.

My 2 year old daughter thought this toy was SO fun at first, but after a while she lost interest. I think, perhaps, it will be fun again when she's a little older and starting to play house and such. The toy itself is durable and VERY well made. I think I might have had more fun with it than she did! All in all, I'm happy with our purchase.

My three year old has recently become obsessed with making "food". He made food out of clumps of dirt in my garden, and "baked" with pans in my kitchen. So for his birthday we got him this set of play food. He likes it a lot! He enjoys cutting the pieces apart and sticking them together in unusual ways - the other day he presented me with an "apple sandwich". I'd say the toy is well worth the price - it is fun, durable, and provides for imaginative play.

I bought this gift for my youngest daughter at Christmas. She was 2 at the time. She and her 4 year old sister both played with it quite frequently. They really enjoyed being able to cut the food into pieces. They especially gravitated towards the cucumber & Italian bread. They don't play with it quite as often now, but it's still something they pull out occasionally - especially while playing "house."