Spending time in the kitchen with kids—especially during the holiday season—makes for a perfect way to create forever memories with your family.
Whether you’re sustaining cherished family food traditions from several generations back, or starting your very own holiday rituals for the first time, holiday cooking with family and kids represents the perfect opportunity to engage, bond, and help your child grow. Food represents a powerful source of connection for many families—teaching our kids our favorite family recipes, spending time with them in the kitchen, and making the dishes from scratch by hand, especially during the holiday season, brings us together in unforgettable ways.
Besides play helping kids develop skills that they'll need in school and beyond, it gives them the confidence to try new things, and the persistence to keep going when they fail. Pretend play sets from Melissa & Doug help promote those essential developmental skills, and encourage kids to keep trying until they get it right.
In this Living Playfully blog post to support our Food is Love campaign, we spotlight five of our top pretend play food toys that will inspire creativity, love, and important developmental skills your young child needs for school and beyond. When it comes time to cook up confidence in the kitchen, look at these pretend food play sets from Melissa & Doug!
Food is Love: 5 Top Developmental Pretend Toys
Scoop & Serve Ice Cream Counter
The Playful Details: Kids can scoop up some cool treats with this all-inclusive, 28-piece pretend play ice cream counter!
Skills at Play: Kids will boost their memory, hand-eye coordination & counting skills by remembering orders, customizing meals & handling play money.
Playful Suggestions for Parents & Caregivers:
✅ Start a holiday tradition where you and your kids prepare pretend Yuletide ice cream sundaes for the whole family.
✅ Encourage your child to play both the customer and the ice cream shop keeper, so they can learn about both perspectives.
✅ Order crazy flavor combos to engage with your child.
✅ Great for play dates & co-operative play.
✅ Help your child come up with a name for their ice cream shop; make a sign, and display a menu; teach them about prep and clean-up.
Top & Bake Pizza Counter - Wooden Play Food
The Playful Details: Create fresh-baked pizza, made to order, with this deliciously unique 41-piece pizza making set.
Skills at Play: Great for developing counting, sorting, imaginative play, storytelling, and fine motor skills.
Playful Suggestions for Parents & Caregivers:
✅ Share a moment of fun together and enjoy a pretend pizza party with the kids before the real holiday cooking gets started.
✅ Encourage your child to play both the customer and the pizza maker, so they can learn about both roles.
✅ Pretend play as your child’s customer; then swap roles and have them pretend as the customer.
✅ Great for play dates & co-operative play.
✅ Help your child come up with a name for their pizza parlor; make a sign, and display a menu; teach them about prep and clean-up. Time for pretend delivery adventures!
Slice & Stack Sandwich Counter
The Playful Details: The sturdy wooden deli counter includes a pretend play meat and cheese slicer for the wooden play food, and felt sandwich roll and toppings to create sandwiches ordered from the menu.
Skills at Play: Helps encourage counting, sorting, and fine motor skills, as well as imaginative play and storytelling.
Playful Suggestions for Parents & Caregivers:
✅ Enjoy some pretend sandwiches as a family snack while decorating the Christmas tree together.
✅ Encourage your child to play both the customer and the sandwich maker, so they can learn about both roles.
✅ Pretend play as your child’s customer; then swap roles and have them pretend as the customer.
✅ Great for play dates & co-operative play.
✅ Help your child come up with a name for their sandwich shop; make a sign, and display a menu; teach them about prep and clean-up. Get ready for the lunch rush!
The Playful Details: Prepare perfect pretend pasta every time with this 50-plus-piece pasta-making set!
Skills at Play: Supports open-ended, screen-free, preschool learning activities through imaginative storytelling, fine motor skill development, memory building and thrilling role play.
Playful Suggestions for Parents & Caregivers:
✅ With your kids, throw a big pretend play Italian food feast for the whole family, and go step by step: planning the menu, shopping for ingredients, preparing the food, setting the table—a new five-star holiday tradition!
✅ Volunteer to be the sous chef and let your child take the kitchen lead. Then swap roles to see how they follow directions.
✅ Ask your child to help you prep a real-life pasta dinner to put their pretend cooking skills to a real test.
✅ Great for play dates & co-operative play.
✅ Encourage your child to prepare a meal from start to finish: Invite friends and family; pretend play shop & prepare the meal; set the table, then serve and enjoy! The kids can make place cards and a family menu too for those extra special touches.
The Playful Details: Our 27-piece pretend play pie-making set has everything kids need to prep, put together, and “bake” deliciously imaginative play pies.
Skills at Play: An engaging way for budding chefs to boost motor skills, learn to follow directions, practice counting, sorting, storytelling, and communication skills.
Playful Suggestions for Parents & Caregivers:
✅ Stage a holiday-themed, pretend pie eating contest for the whole family: make pies, taste them all, pick a winner, get a ribbon.
✅ Volunteer to be the sous chef and let your child take the kitchen lead. Then swap roles to see how they follow directions.
✅ Ask your child to help you prep a real-life pasta dinner to put their pretend cooking skills to a real test.
✅ Great for play dates & co-operative play.
✅ Encourage your child to prepare a meal from start to finish: Invite friends and family; pretend play shop & prepare the meal; set the table, then serve and enjoy! The kids can even make place mats & a family menu for an extra-fancy special touch.
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For more great holiday toy content from Melissa & Doug, click thru theses links:
Shop Melissa & Doug Holiday Gift Guide
Shop Melissa & Doug Toys by Age
Explore Melissa & Doug Skills at Play
Shop Melissa & Doug Pretend Play Play Food & Play Sets
Shop Melissa & Doug Pretend Play
Shop Melissa & Doug Learning Toys
Explore Melissa & Doug Living Playfully Blog
Shop Melissa & Doug Stocking Stuffer Toys
