Christy Mahoney

If you know she will love it, why not? It will still fuel her
imagination. My dd just turned 7 a couple of days ago, and she
still loves her little plastic kitchen that we got at the spur of
the moment when we saw it for sale in someone's yard. My older dd
got her some more play food for her birthday as well.

I love play kitchen stuff - some of it is just adorable. Sometimes
Brenna just plays with it on her own, and sometimes she has a
restaurant or shop for us to visit. It's lots of fun.

-Christy M.

--- In [email protected], Kendrah Nilsestuen
<carebear-79@...> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone,
> My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate
and their
> is a play kitchen she is in love. If we go to a store that has a
play
> kitchen she will play at it as long as possible. With the holidays
> coming up we usually do a small gift exchange (1 gift each). I
know she
> would love a kitchen. I'm torn with what to do here. Since she
doesn't
> have one she has to use her imagination her at home. She'll turn a
> chair into the stove, a box into the sink etc. I think using
> imagination is great (no limitations to what you can create
right?) but
> i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an unschooling
> standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having
the
> actual thing? Any thoughts?
>
> Kendrah
>

Heather

Kendrah,

I had a thought. Perhaps you could compromise... I've seen
those 'modular storage system' type things at Walmart or Target (or
places like that) where they sell 'cubes', where some of them have
doors, some have shelves, some have drawers etc... Perhaps you could
buy her a couple of them, say one with a door and one with drawers,
so she could, through the power of imagination, turn them into a
Fridge or an oven or whatever. (maybe you could even paint on
some 'burners' etc) Then, when she outgrows wanting to play kitchen,
she could use them for other things. Also, you could store all
her 'kitchen' stuff inside them while she's into that... Also, I
remember one of my fav. things to do when I was into playing kitchen
when I was a kid was making 'foodstuffs' out of playdoh and letting
it dry and then having little 'fried eggs' or mashed potatoes or
whatever (this was in the days before Fisher Price made the plastic
play food)... Perhaps you could gift her some playdoh (or make it
homemade so you'll have just the right colors to make food with)
along with the cubes... Or pitch the whole idea and give her a
kitchen. LOL! Just an idea. I searched for the sort of thing I am
talking about online and here is a link to give you an idea of what
I am talking about:
http://www.ezcube.info/components/ComponentDetail.asp?p=1
Although in this particular line I didn't see the 'drawer' type of
cube I am thinking of... I swear I've seen 'em...! Well... Have a
lovely day!
Smiles,
Heather




--- In [email protected], Kendrah Nilsestuen
<carebear-79@...> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone,
> My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate
and their
> is a play kitchen she is in love. If we go to a store that has a
play
> kitchen she will play at it as long as possible. With the holidays
> coming up we usually do a small gift exchange (1 gift each). I
know she
> would love a kitchen. I'm torn with what to do here. Since she
doesn't
> have one she has to use her imagination her at home. She'll turn a
> chair into the stove, a box into the sink etc. I think using
> imagination is great (no limitations to what you can create
right?) but
> i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an unschooling
> standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having
the
> actual thing? Any thoughts?
>
> Kendrah
>

wuweimama

--- In [email protected], Kendrah Nilsestuen
<carebear-79@...> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone,
> My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate and
their > is a play kitchen she is in love.

A friend with 8 children, both boys and girls, reports that the most
utilized "toy", which had the most longevity, was a play kitchen. Due
to the frequency of real life exposure, it has an ongoing appeal, well
up until children are 8+. In unschooling, of course, we engage our
children in the Real Kitchen too. It seems your daughter is enjoying
her imaginary play. You might invite her to "help" with real baking
and cooking. I say "help" because, it requires more time, rather than
less at first; but very quickly our son has become quite independent
and is a big help. (except for the messy flour sifter Olympic Event,
lol).


Pat

Brian & Alexandra Polikowsky

Is it your budget that does not allow for the purchase of a play kitchen ?
Alex





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Cara

Kendrah,

If your budget permits, why not?

If it's not in the budget - could you save empty cans, boxes, plastic
bottles, egg cartons with plastic Easter eggs, etc - rinse them out and
then use them.

I did this one year with an extra bookshelf we had, a calculator, paper
bags, etc. My girls loved to play grocery store but we couldn't afford
to get the toys that year - so I created it and surprised them at
Christmas with it all set up. They used our old bassinet as the cart
and had a blast!

Blessings,
Cara :)

Heather

I have to agree there. My kids play with thier little play kitchen a
lot, both of them (I have a boy and girl). Was thinking, after I
posted about the 'cube' idea, that likely a play kitchen would be
cheaper in the long run, but didn't know if you were objecting to
buying one on cost or ideology (wanting her to use imagination).

--- In [email protected], "wuweimama"
<wuweimama@...> wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], Kendrah Nilsestuen
> <carebear-79@> wrote:
> >
> > Hello everyone,
> > My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate
and
> their > is a play kitchen she is in love.
>
> A friend with 8 children, both boys and girls, reports that the
most
> utilized "toy", which had the most longevity, was a play kitchen.
Due
> to the frequency of real life exposure, it has an ongoing appeal,
well
> up until children are 8+. In unschooling, of course, we engage our
> children in the Real Kitchen too. It seems your daughter is
enjoying
> her imaginary play. You might invite her to "help" with real baking
> and cooking. I say "help" because, it requires more time, rather
than
> less at first; but very quickly our son has become quite
independent
> and is a big help. (except for the messy flour sifter Olympic
Event,
> lol).
>
>
> Pat
>

Elissa Jill

but
i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an unschooling
standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having the
actual thing? Any thoughts?

*******
I haven't read any responses yet but from *my* unschooling standpoint, why would you NOT help her get something you say she would "love to have"?
Elissa Jill
A Kindersher saychel iz oychet a saychel.
"A Child's wisdom is also wisdom." ~Yiddish Proverb

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

alisonslp

We got a play kitchen when my twins (boy/girl) turned two. They just
turned six and they both play with it several times a week. My 3yr old
ds plays with it for at least an hour every day. He just loves it.
They play resturant and write down orders from us. They sort the food,
you name it. They recently started using it a bank - the oven, micro,
and dishwasher have number keypads so they are the safes... There's no
end to the imagination.

One thing I'd recommend though is to buy the tallest one you can find.
Having twins, we bought the step 2 deluxe lifestyle one. It was the
tallest (so it would grow with them) and was the longest (so both
could play with it at the same time. IT was very expensive, though
it's cheaper now. Still it was well worth the expense.

alison

Schuyler

I think you might be confusing unschooling with a Steiner approach. There
isn't a big concern with pushing imaginary play on children within
unschooling. Imaginary play happens whether you have plastic preformed,
preassigned toys or not. As Alison wrote, a microwave can become a safe even
when it is clearly designed to be a microwave.

Unschooling is about helping your child access more of what they love, it
isn't about having rules that separate you from having the best relationship
you can with your child.

So, if your daughter's face lights up whenever she sees a play kitchen, give
her a play kitchen. And help her make all the yummy play food she could
possibly imagine eating and sharing.

SChuyer
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kendrah Nilsestuen" <carebear-79@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 10:20 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Real or imaginary?


> Hello everyone,
> My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate and their
> is a play kitchen she is in love. If we go to a store that has a play
> kitchen she will play at it as long as possible. With the holidays
> coming up we usually do a small gift exchange (1 gift each). I know she
> would love a kitchen. I'm torn with what to do here. Since she doesn't
> have one she has to use her imagination her at home. She'll turn a
> chair into the stove, a box into the sink etc. I think using
> imagination is great (no limitations to what you can create right?) but
> i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an unschooling
> standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having the
> actual thing? Any thoughts?
>
> Kendrah
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

ewgott

Let me chime in on this subject, too. I say get the 'real' thing for
her. When I was a kid, my neighbor had a play kitchen, and also a
dollhouse. I never had those things. I loved playing with them, and
really wished that I could have had them. I still love seeing
dollhouses, and wish I had one (I'm 50). The play kitchen I don't
remember as well.

Now, also understand that I went home and created my own dollhouses
out of what I had to work with, and I cherish those memories of make
believe a LOT. As an example, I used to turn my little coin purse
inside out and it was a couch. And my bookcase, which was two fruit
crates nailed together and painted, was the dollhouse. I had a
little ladder that went with some other toy, and that was the
stairs. I used ratfinks and troll dolls, and my Barbie rode the
horse model. I was very inventive and had a great imagination.

But I still wish for a dollhouse.

Erica

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kendrah Nilsestuen" <carebear-79@...>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 10:20 PM
> Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Real or imaginary?
>
>
> > Hello everyone,
> > My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate and
their
> > is a play kitchen she is in love. If we go to a store that has a
play
> > kitchen she will play at it as long as possible. With the
holidays
> > coming up we usually do a small gift exchange (1 gift each). I
know she
> > would love a kitchen. I'm torn with what to do here. Since she
doesn't
> > have one she has to use her imagination her at home. She'll turn
a
> > chair into the stove, a box into the sink etc. I think using
> > imagination is great (no limitations to what you can create
right?) but
> > i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an
unschooling
> > standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over
having the
> > actual thing? Any thoughts?
> >
> > Kendrah
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

woodhaven_farm

If you can budget it, I would agree with the recommendation to get a
play kitchen.

I am currently living with others and they definetly disapproved of a
boy having a kitchen, and he had so many other great toys, that I
resisted the urge to purchase my ds a kitchen when he was little.
Then I compromised and bought this annoying little playskool talking
kitchen. He came up with so many cool things with it that when a
bigger kitchen went on sale after Christmas, I snatched it up and
dared anyone to comment on my son having a kitchen.

Since then I have added on to it with empty containers from everyday,
cash register, shopping cart, small appliances, and a chief outfit.
He (now 4) loves to dress up as a chief, take my order, and prepare
me a several course meal. He still plays with it probably everyday
and with others when he visits friend's homes or stores.

I had a deluxe kitchen growing up and I still recall many years of
happily imagining and acting out sceneros in my kitchen.

I have a friend who only buys wooden toys on the basis that all other
toys "limit" the imagination. I am a consumer, own alot of plastic
and also annoying talking toys, and my ds has the most amazing
imagination. I see his toys as tools that he utilizes in his
imaginative play, and try not to expend to much energy worrying about
the value of the tool to me. IMHO, if my child sees it as a tool he
would like, then I try to find a way for him to have it. This has
meant that we have alot of things that I never would have believed
that I would have in my home, but everybody is different. I have come
to appreciate these differences and am trying to embrace them
joyfully!

Ren Allen

~but
i also know she would LOVE the actual kitchen. From an unschooling
standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having the
actual thing? Any thoughts?~


From my unschooling standpoint, the most important factor is your
child. If she is fascinated with something, that will feed her
imagination more than something she isn't fascinated with! Interest
and fascination are the most important factors, not other people's
judgments about what feeds imagination.

I've never seen a play kitchen limit imagination unless a child was
told to use it in a specific way.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

Michelle Leifur Reid

On 12/1/06, Kendrah Nilsestuen <carebear-79@...> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> My daughter is 3.5. When she goes to a house for a playdate and their
> is a play kitchen she is in love. If we go to a store that has a play
> kitchen she will play at it as long as possible.

My most beloeved toy from when I was a child was a play kitchen set
that my grandfather made for me. It was wooden and had real burners
(the small ones) attached to the top. He made me a sink as well using
an old RV sink. I would play with that set for hours and loved it SO
much. My mom couldn't afford me a "real" one and asked him to make it
for me one Christmas. It was the greatest thing ever. :)

We had a real space issue when Emily was a tot because we were living
in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment and there literally wasn't room for a
kitchen set. I found a solution with a Fisher Price stove top (looks
somewhat like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1978-Fisher-Price-Stove-Top-VHTF_W0QQitemZ230056303078QQcmdZViewItem
)

Emily played with that thing all the time. And even though she also
helped me in the kitchen all the time, the playset was one of her
favorite toys. As siblings came along, they adopted it as the older
one moved on to other things. With Keon we bought a ton of plastic
fruits and veggies that could be cut in half with a small plastic
knife (they velcroed together) They all fit in a plastic rubbermaid
type tote with the stove and the various pots and pans that we had
purchased over theyears. Keon still loves to "play" in the kitchen,
even though he no longer plays with the stove and veggies. He dreams
of being a chef and even had a garden this year so he could cook the
veggies from it. The kids have always been invited into the kitchen
to help me. They've been baking, and mixing and stirring and chopping
since they were old enough to stand on a chair at the counter. They
all know how to cook various things and are familiar with different
tools and their uses. Even though they had a real kitchen to "play"
in, they still loved playing with their stove.

One way to look at imaginary play is this: If you daughter asked for
a dolly so she could play house (or whatever) would you make her play
with a log so that she could imagine it was a doll? :-) It's ok to
give your children real toys to play imagination games with. They
don't have to imagine everything.

Michelle

Nicole Willoughby

I you are able to get her a kitchen and you know she would love one I say do it!

Thats not to discourage imagination or anything but she will likely come across other things she dosent have and substitute something else for it :) .

Nicole


---------------------------------
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ren Allen

~~
My most beloeved toy from when I was a child was a play kitchen set
that my grandfather made for me. ~~


Oooh...one of my favorite toys from childhood was the stove/oven my
Dad built for us. I remember him working in the garage, the smell of
sawdust (still a lovely scent) emanating and the mystery of wondering
what he was building.

It was pink! And I wish I still had it. He also built us a most
wonderful dollhouse that was huge and had a lifting top so you could
use the attic. I love handmade gifts to this day.:)

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

[email protected]

Hallo,

I've been lurking for about a month, and now it's high time to introduce myself, I guess. ;)

Well, I'm Anastasia, 25 yo, mum to Elisabeth, 6 yo, and Joanna, 4 yo.
Daddy isn't and never really was living with us, and right now even is in another country (England). However, we're thinking about joining him finally, also because over there unschooling would be a lot easier. I don't know his point of view, though, regarding unschooling. We'll give it a try over X-mas and see what happens...

I'm new into unschooling, as you might guess. I started reading about homeschooling, planning to do it for one year with my older dd. And now I'm getting soaked in more and more! The problem over here in Austria is that you still have to do exams, each year, and therefore have to teach the same stuff as at school, otherwise you loose the right to homeschool this particular child.

I'm deschooling myself, after 6 years of university without any real outcome. I decided to take a break before knowing about unschooling, and now I'm really happy I did it! We'll see whether it'll remain a break or will turn into a break-up. ;)

Yesterday, I got a compliment from my sister! I've sent her the link to an unschooling-site (thanks to Johanna!), and after looking at it she said that it fits me, that I was kind of doing it all along (I disagree here!). Well, the funny thing is, that I always loved the way she treated my kids, and kind of returned the compliment. Guess what- she started to talk about extended family and such having other expectations. But there's hope, her baby is only one month old, co-sleeping, brest-fed, and sling-carried. :))) How great would it be to have her in the same boat!!!

Enough for the beginning...

Thanks for enlightening me constantly!!!
--

...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................


"Ein Herz für Kinder" - Ihre Spende hilft! Aktion: www.deutschlandsegelt.de
Unser Dankeschön: Ihr Name auf dem Segel der 1. deutschen America's Cup-Yacht!

Joanne

Hello Anastasia, (pretty name!)

Welcome! There's lots of interesting topics here to read. I always
suggest that newcomers check some older topics because so much great
information is there.

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (14)
Adopted into our hearts October 2003
************************************
Unschooling Voices ~ Add Your Voice
www.foreverparents.com/UnschoolingVoices.html



--- In [email protected], lin.an@... wrote:
>
> Hallo,
>
> I've been lurking for about a month, and now it's high time to
introduce myself, I guess. ;)
>
> Well, I'm Anastasia, 25 yo, mum to Elisabeth, 6 yo, and Joanna, 4
yo.
> Daddy isn't and never really was living with us, and right now
even is in another country (England). However, we're thinking about
joining him finally, also because over there unschooling would be a
lot easier. I don't know his point of view, though, regarding
unschooling. We'll give it a try over X-mas and see what happens...
>
> I'm new into unschooling, as you might guess. I started reading
about homeschooling, planning to do it for one year with my older
dd. And now I'm getting soaked in more and more! The problem over
here in Austria is that you still have to do exams, each year, and
therefore have to teach the same stuff as at school, otherwise you
loose the right to homeschool this particular child.
>
> I'm deschooling myself, after 6 years of university without any
real outcome. I decided to take a break before knowing about
unschooling, and now I'm really happy I did it! We'll see whether
it'll remain a break or will turn into a break-up. ;)
>
> Yesterday, I got a compliment from my sister! I've sent her the
link to an unschooling-site (thanks to Johanna!), and after looking
at it she said that it fits me, that I was kind of doing it all
along (I disagree here!). Well, the funny thing is, that I always
loved the way she treated my kids, and kind of returned the
compliment. Guess what- she started to talk about extended family
and such having other expectations. But there's hope, her baby is
only one month old, co-sleeping, brest-fed, and sling-carried. :)))
How great would it be to have her in the same boat!!!
>
> Enough for the beginning...
>
> Thanks for enlightening me constantly!!!
> --
>
> ...................................................................
.....................................................................
...
> ...................................................................
.....................................................................
...
>
>
> "Ein Herz für Kinder" - Ihre Spende hilft! Aktion:
www.deutschlandsegelt.de
> Unser Dankeschön: Ihr Name auf dem Segel der 1. deutschen
America's Cup-Yacht!
>

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: carebear-79@...


From an unschooling
standpoint i'm assuming that the imagination wins out over having the
actual thing? Any thoughts?

-=-=-=-

From an unschooling point of view---what does your daughter want??

She still can't cook in a plastic kitchen, can she? She'll still use
her imagination, right?

~Kelly
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: lin.an@...


Well, I'm Anastasia, 25 yo, mum to Elisabeth, 6 yo, and Joanna, 4 yo.
Daddy isn't and never really was living with us, and right now even is
in
another country (England). However, we're thinking about joining him
finally,
also because over there unschooling would be a lot easier. I don't know
his
point of view, though, regarding unschooling. We'll give it a try over
X-mas and
see what happens...

-=-=-=-

I was going to tell you about Johanna's German e-list, but you're
already there. Good!

I'm a member, but y'all are just TOO chatty! <g> I barely have enough
time to read the lists I own in English! <G> But I check in every now
and then. I'm so glad there's a German resource.

Where are you in Austria? I lived in Wien a year (10 Bezirk) and have a
good friend from Bludenz, who also now lives in Wien.

What are the legalities in Austria? As bad a Germany?

~Kelly
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.

[email protected]

Kelly wrote:
> I was going to tell you about Johanna's German e-list, but you're
> already there. Good!
> I'm a member, but y'all are just TOO chatty! <g> I barely have enough
> time to read the lists I own in English! <G> But I check in every now
> and then. I'm so glad there's a German resource.

I'm focusing on the German one, and trying to at least *read* what is going on on the English ones. You guys are way more, and more experienced!

> Where are you in Austria? I lived in Wien a year (10 Bezirk) and have a
> good friend from Bludenz, who also now lives in Wien.

We're in Vienna as well. Is this friend an unschooler? ;)

> What are the legalities in Austria? As bad a Germany?

Noooo, not at all! I'm currently homeschooling my dd6, absolutely legally, just had to announce it in time. But, as you already might know from my previous posts, there are exams to be taken and passed in order to continue the homeschooling path. And that can be difficult in conbination with unschooling.

Anastasia,
dd 6yo, dd 4yo
--
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