Packed with Simple Ideas: A Handmade Pretend Play Corner
Let’s handcraft a play kitchen—the kind kids dream about! You can enjoy building the stove, faucet, shelves, and more while getting creative with different ideas.
A one-of-a-kind kitchen packed with your child’s preferences and a caregiver’s personal touches will be something they can enjoy for a long time.
We’ve gathered a variety of ideas, so you can choose what suits you best—from selecting materials to the steps you want to tackle.
When you see your child happily playing with the handmade kitchen, you’ll truly feel, “I’m so glad we made it!”
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[Packed with Simple Ideas] DIY Pretend-Play Corner (1–10)
Ingredients made of felt
Let’s try handcrafting play food out of felt for pretend play! You can buy colorful felt for making the ingredients at 100-yen shops.
The great things about felt play food are that it’s safe even if thrown and has a soft, fluffy feel.
Another nice point is that even if it tears, you can stitch it up a little and keep using it.
Be sure to make some cute vegetables for the kids.
If they get dirty from lots of play, wash them the same way you would a stuffed toy.
Pretend-play kitchen made with 100-yen store items
This is a pretend-play kitchen made with assembly-type storage boxes and adhesive remake sheets from the 100-yen shop.
Combine four boxes and secure them with duct tape to create the base.
Cut holes in the box lids to insert a bowl for the sink and a pump for the faucet, then cover the exterior with remake sheets to finish.
Adding a wire grid for hanging kitchen tools will make it look even more realistic! If you have the kids help apply the remake sheets, they’ll feel more attached to it and take better care of it.
A frying pan made of cardboard
This is a frying pan you can easily make out of cardboard! Prepare a round cardboard piece, a long narrow strip, and a paper towel roll cut to a suitable length, and cover each with colored paper.
Glue the long narrow strip all the way around the edge of the round piece, then cut a slit and insert the paper towel roll so it becomes the handle of the frying pan—that’s it.
Since it’s made of cardboard and not very durable, it might be a good idea to make several at once so you can quickly replace them if they break.
[Packed with Simple Ideas] DIY Pretend Play Corner (11–20)
A kitchen made from storable empty boxes
A handmade kitchen created using a cute storage box with a lid! Cut out an opening in the box’s lid so you can fit a tray to serve as the sink.
Near that, make another hole to insert the pump part of a hand soap bottle.
After that, stick on round pieces of felt to represent stovetop burners, and you’re done! It’s also recommended to decorate the outside of the box to make it even cuter.
The box can be used to store toy frying pans and play food, making cleanup a breeze!
Easy 300-yen Kitchen
How about a handmade kitchen made from cardboard that you can customize any way you like? First, attach two large cardboard boxes together and secure them with packing tape.
Next, cut a hole to fit a tray that will serve as the sink.
If you cover the whole thing with white packing tape, you’ll get a stylish, white-themed kitchen.
Insert cardboard pieces as legs on both ends, and stick old DVDs or CDs on the top to represent stovetop burners—now the basics are done.
After that, have fun adding your own creative touches, like making doors or drawers on the lower section or adding small storage compartments!
A pretend kitchen you can make yourself (DIY)
If you enjoy DIY projects like sawing wooden boards and drilling holes, this is a full-fledged DIY play kitchen you should definitely try.
You can get everything you need at the home improvement store CAINZ, so you can do all your shopping in one go.
Using items like color cube shelves, stacking boxes, and cork sheets, the kitchen looks incredibly real—with a faucet, sink, and stovetop.
Even making nail holes is easy with a power driver.
You can already picture your child’s delighted face saying, “Wow, amazing!”
Cafe Kitchen
One of the joys of DIY is imagining your child’s happy face as you create.
If you’re going to make it by hand, how about a stylish café-style kitchen with natural wood grain as the base? Start by gluing together wooden boards of the same size to create a slatted, pallet-like base.
A door covered with chalkboard sheet has a solid, authentic feel that’s exciting.
Make use of items with a natural texture—like jute twine and cork sheets—to design a kitchen that suits your taste!