Crafting by not a very crafty mum - cardboard oven

Little E has begun to do something I would call symbolic play. Nursery have noticed him tucking toys into bed and he has begun to copy us - trying to brush his hair by himself and offering to feed us.

This opens up lots of exciting toy opportunities. We have a space in our living room, which would be a great spot for something like a toy kitchen.

Of course, I do my research first and was overwhelmed by the choices! Did we go for a toy kitchen, a work shop, a market stall, laundry room, etc, etc. We certainly don't have room for everything or for some of the luxury models which are kitchen and laundry room combined. You can buy cute table top versions, but where do we store all of this? What if he loves "doing the laundry", but not "the dishes"?

What we needed was to try lots of different options and then see what Little E grows into.

I was given a lovely book by a friend, "Entertaining and educating babies and toddlers" by Caroline Young. It has been a great source of inspiration since Little E was born. 

It suggested making a simple oven out of a cardboard box with a picture of what you might be able to achieve.

Now...according to Pinterest you can make anything out of a cardboard box, but first you always seem to need the right kind of cardboard box. I remember this always being a problem with craft projects as a child. You never had a yoghurt pot when you needed it!

So, I just grabbed the nearest box and had a go. Little E won't mind and if he starts to really like something, we can wait for that perfect box to come along and make him something properly.

Step 1: a box that used to contain wipes. Other brands are available!

Step 2: cut off the side flaps and wrap in brown paper.

Step 3: decorate like an oven and hob. We have a gas hob, so I tried to make it look like this.

Step 4: pop a few items in for him to "cook" with - so far I have scavenged a toy saucepan, a weaning spoon and fork, a plastic plate and a plastic cup.

I like it and I've got ideas for other things. So far, Little E likes banging the saucepan against it! I'm hoping he might take an opportunity to "feed" his teddy if the objects are at least around. If he starts playing with it, I will find a way to secure the "doors", so he can close the oven properly.

My hope is we can assess what he likes playing with and then buy him a smart one when he is older and doing a lot more of this sort of activity.