For budding Jamie Olivers the world over (ELC Cut and Play Veg Set)

Member Name: ButterBear

Product:	ELC Cut and Play Veg Set
Date:	24/06/08 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for imaginitive play

Disadvantages: Only available from ELC

Childrens toys have certainly come on in leaps and bounds over the years, what would have been a basic concept back when I was a child now has all sorts of fancy features and extra's that we would never have dreamt of, an example of one of these toys is the Early Learning Centre Cut & Play Veg' set, yes I had play food when I was a little girl but not play food like this.

The ELC Cut & Play Veg' set is suitable for children aged 2-8 years, previously presented in a plastic shopping bag it now comes as crate of vegetables, no doubt encouraging the environmentally friendly side of our children, instilling such valuable lessons in them from a young age. The set consists of several different types of plastic vegetables and a plastic knife, the veg' varieties include broccoli, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and more. Each piece of veg' is made up of 2 or more different sections joined together by little Velcro patches, when the toy knife is pressed in between each section they divide as if you were genuinely cutting up real vegetables.

Christopher and Elsa love playing tea party's and make believe, they're always wandering up to me with imaginary cups of tea or plates of plastic food and this set is perfect in encouraging their imaginative games, not only can they pretend they're eating the food but they can also pretend they are preparing the meal in the first place, selecting vegetables and chopping them before pretending to cook them and present them on plates. I think it's important for children to learn where their food comes from and the importance of cooking meals from scratch and this play set is perfect for encouraging them to do so, a 2 year old may not be old enough to help mummy or daddy chop real vegetables for Sunday lunch but they'll be happy to sit down chopping up their play veg' and being just like a grown up.

The vegetables, knife and crate are all made of durable, washable plastic and will certainly stand up to the test of time and frequent use by imaginative children, occasionally the Velcro pads start to become a little loose around the edges but a quick dab of glue will secure them for a little longer, the Velcro itself holds the individual veg' segments together well but not so tightly that younger children can't manage to cut them. My sons nursery also has this set and if it can stand up to the daily attacks of over 60 different 3 and 4 year olds then you can guarantee it'll last your toddler a fair amount of time and use.

The set retails at £10.00 and being an Early Learning Centre toy is only available from their stores and website. Other similar sets are available including peel able fruit and barbeque food. Check out the set here- http://www.elc.co.uk/toy-33556?&parent_categor y_id=534

For a great quality toy that encourages imaginative and social play I can highly recommend this set.

Summary: A great little set of play food