Play Kitchens & Food

The play food in this section is made for cutting: wooden fruit and vegetables in pieces that a child slices apart with a wooden knife, then presses back together to start again. The range is small and focused: one set for toddlers from 18 months and one for children from 2 years.

A toddler cutting set from 18 months

The Slice & Cut Fruit Set comes first. The halves part with a light stroke of the knife, so a young child gets the reward of a fruit cut in two well before they have real control of the blade. Show the movement once, slowly, then hand over the knife and let them repeat it as often as they like.

Chopping vegetables from 2 years

The cutting vegetables set, also with its own knife, brings the veg patch to the chopping board. The pieces are made to be cut again and again, as with every set of wooden food toys here. It is a good way to learn the names of everyday vegetables while practising a two-handed gesture: one hand holds the vegetable steady, the other cuts.

How to play with toy food at home

Set the pieces out on a tray beside you while you cook: your child chops their wooden vegetables while you chop the real ones, and the pretend meal is ready at the same time as dinner. Later, ask them to serve you half of each fruit, then count the pieces on the plate together. Both sets fit a toy kitchen, a picnic on the rug or a tea party with teddies.

Preparing food is one of the first real tasks a child asks to share, and Montessori education toys like these scale it down to their size. When the cutting gets easy, a real child-safe knife and a soft banana are a natural next step under your eye.