As a food researcher and recipe developer, KC Hysmith was fully entrenched in the world of fake foods before the birth of her first child. Before it was due, Hysmith purchased a small aluminum Italian tea set, one of the many Millennium-marketed Fisher-Price French Press coffee sets and much more.
However, there was one item I “reluctantly” waited to purchase. Hysmith’s partner reminded her that since they both currently live in a small Boston apartment, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to make room for a play kitchen — something their daughter won’t actually be able to use for at least a year.
“She reluctantly waited until her first birthday to have her shipped from IKEA,” Hysmith told me via email. “I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed their design over the years, and it’s very Ikea-esque, simple and functional, leaving plenty of space personalization.“
Hysmith bought a roll of ultra-trendy Rifle Paper Co. wrapping paper to make the backsplash. I found some matching boxes for storage above, as well as a small white cabinet to mount on the wall next to the kitchen to serve as a mini-fridge. (Like most real kitchens, Hysmith pointed out, the Ikea toy kitchen definitely lacked enough storage space.)
“Delighted, but not entirely satisfied, I dove headfirst into Pinterest for Ikea-Kitchen reno tricks but soon found myself in over my head,” Hesmith said.
There, she found lessons to increase the play’s range with tile-fixed backhands, which made her wrapping paper look a little sad in comparison. There were versions with spray painted hardware and real water pumping systems instead of a plastic “tub”. Play kitchens are no longer the brightly colored, round-edged plastic toys of yesteryear; They are now, thanks to companies like Ikea and the undeniably chic miniatures of adult kitchens, complete with faux subway tiles and mini faux gas stoves.
Play kitchens are no longer the brightly colored, round-edged plastic toys of yesteryear; They are now, thanks to companies like Ikea and the undeniably chic miniatures of adult kitchens, complete with faux subway tiles and mini faux gas stoves.
These changing aesthetics can tell us a lot about our culture’s changing relationship to home functioning—and the growing pressure to have a “trophy kitchen,” even if it’s just plastic.
“Imitative play is one of the most grounded types of human behavior,” said Dr. Meredith Buck, associate professor of childhood studies at Rutgers University, whose work specifically explores children’s historical and contemporary games, film, and media.
She continued, “Although it is only in the past two hundred years that toys have been commercially manufactured and sold to large segments of the population, which explicitly invites children to repeat household tasks—toy kitchens, cleaning supplies, and, on another scale, dollhouses—as a form of play “.
Buck noted that it is important to remember that children often play with toys in many unintended ways. For example, stove knobs can become a console for a space station, while a game tub can become an ocean for a Lego boat. However, “at various historical moments, the benefits of these toys may be framed in connection with larger social concerns… such as nutrition issues, where it is thought that children who play with toy versions of ‘healthy’ foods may model ‘balanced’ eating.” Diet .”
These concerns, of course, are largely of the parent’s and not the child’s. Since many parents choose toys for their children (at least up to a certain age), they usually control the aesthetics of those toys.
“Kitchens are available in many different styles, which reflect everything from intended uses to buyers’ stylistic preferences,” Buck said. For example, puffy plastic kitchens with large accessories may be marketed to children under three, given the stricter restrictions around toy qualities, choking hazards, etc. But there is also an increase in play kitchens that reflect higher-quality sensibilities: quieter schemes. Cleaner, modern colors and lines.Some companies, such as Brio and Ikea, have been producing this type of kitchen for a while, but now there are a lot of brands making kitchens that reflect the aesthetics of luxury urban apartments [and] Large suburban homes with modern kitchens.”
Take, for example, the $150 Little Chef Berlin Modern Play Kitchen by Teamson Kids, a striking blue number with faux gold accents and subway tiles. Product description reads:
Designed with a white brick backsplash and gold hardware, this modern blue play kitchen is great for both boys and girls, and complements any home, classroom, or playroom. The interactive design features opening oven and microwave doors, a rotating oven knob, two hob knobs, two burners, two shelves, a sink with a gold faucet, a washer, a laundry switch, and an under-the-sink cabinet to enhance your little ones’ playtime. With six included accessories: a walkie-talkie, spoon, bowl, lid, and cutting board, this toddler kitchen encourages role-play and lights up your little chef’s imagination and creativity.
Then there very Professional-looking Kids’ Wooden Kitchen Play Set $499 from Crate & Barrel:
organize! This modern play kitchen is designed to look and feel like the real deal, the kind of kitchen that is well built but newly remodeled. From planning the menu to sharing tasks, this set allows aspiring chefs to express their creativity and explore new ways to play. The chalkboard at the top lets them write and/or draw the specials of the day, and the pretend clock keeps things on track (we all know how busy the lunch rush can get).
Looking at these models, and the many, many examples like them, I’ve found myself personally torn between wanting these kitchens for a future child—and wanting them for myself. (Okay, the adult-sized versions.) My current kitchen is clean and utilitarian, but it’s not quite Pinterest-worthy.
As someone who works in the food industry and often has to find creative solutions to create culinary content from my own home, I understand the pressure associated with wanting what writer and academic Emilie Contois describes as a “memorial kitchen.” In her article “Not Just for Cooking Anymore: Exploring the Kitchen of the Twenty-First Century Cup,” published by the Alumni Association of Food Stories, Contois writes that American cuisine is taking center stage more than ever.
“With an avalanche of television networks, TV shows, magazines and websites, images of dream kitchens used by celebrity chefs, owned by celebrities and purchased by aspiring homeowners are bombarding American viewers,” she wrote. “The near-constant barrage of perfect kitchen images has redefined the kitchen, explaining in part its rise within the home and the American consciousness.”
Kitchens, even among those who aren’t keen home cooks, are now cultural status symbols. This is most clearly seen when watching HGTV, where the phrases “restaurant-quality kitchen” and “entertaining kitchen” are applied with seemingly equal measure, both in shows that chronicle home improvement projects and those that simply showcase ambitious homes.
Kitchens, even among those who aren’t keen home cooks, are now cultural status symbols. This is most clearly seen when watching HGTV, where the phrases “restaurant-quality kitchen” and “entertaining kitchen” are applied with seemingly equal measure, both in shows that chronicle home improvement projects and those that simply showcase ambitious homes.
As Contois writes, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu hypothesized that members of the “petty bourgeoisie are characterized by a desire to follow the tastes of the bourgeoisie,” or that members of the middle class are influenced by following trends set by the wealthy.
“The kitchen remodeling course illustrates this trend, as kitchen remodeling is popular among the middle class as well as the more privileged,” Contois writes. “It should be noted, however, that participation in the consumption of the Kitchen of Cups and access to the condition it provides is largely restricted to those who have the capital to purchase their own home rather than to those who rent it.”
As Buck mentioned, games that are made and marketed during certain time periods may reflect larger concerns that society has. Thus, the shift in the aesthetics of play kitchens may indicate, at least in part, the increasing pressure some housewives feel to turn their kitchens into a trophy of domestic achievement.
“For a lot of parents in the millennial age group, myself included, creating a practical approach — let alone an Instagrammable app — isn’t financially viable, but maybe we can live vicariously through our kids instead,” Hesmith said. “We can buy or create pieces of the kitchen-related material culture that are currently in vogue (brass fixtures, rattan finishes, etc.) “.
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Still, Buck pointed to the potential positivity that comes from these increasingly stylish play kitchens. She noted that “the trend towards more ‘realistic’ color schemes helps to symbolize the associated play as more gender neutral, compared to feminine kitchens with pink accents.”
And while, as a food scientist, it’s hard for Hysmith to ignore some of the gendered implications of the “Instagrammy aesthetic” of some play kitchen upgrades (particularly given the kitchen’s long history as a traditionally feminine space for housework), Baby isn’t thinking about it yet.
“So far, the biggest similarity between my kitchen and my kids’ toys is that they learned to let dirty dishes pile up in the sink,” she said.
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